If he hadn’t been so filled with adrenaline, Jack would have stopped to look. The hundred and seven Sephari flew above, chanting the most haunting and horrifying cadence he’d ever heard. Their song was death, and Jack felt pity for any dark servant who faced them. The Sephari hadn’t taken Elion’s murder well. Off to Jack’s left, the entire jungle was moving, the rolling roots of the trees propelling them forward.
Jack eyed the cliff tops. The Shadow Souled waited on the edges, but so far they hadn’t moved. Not until the army of Awakened neared the center of the valley did a bleary horn sound. Both bluffs turned black as millions of the Assassin’s servants rushed down. This was the Assassin’s plan. He demands we come to him but ensures the destruction of the Awakened in the process of getting us there. Swarms of plagued insects, rot-ridden forests, and creeping plants descended the ridge. Shadule, Oriax, Drogule, and distorted beasts too numerous to count charged in. Snarling, pale-faced humans of every age joined the biggest army the world had ever seen. Tornadoes formed among the ranks of darkness, and even as they swept in, many of the Shadow Souled were flung aside. A great fissure opened in the side of the cliff.
The first ranks of the dark army crashed over the Awakened. Mrs. Dumphry had been right: to meet the enemy in the valley was a ridiculous battle strategy. There was no chance of retreat.
Jack strode through the melee, not allowing himself to see what was happening. The only hope for the Awakened was if the Children of Prophecy made it to the top of the mountain. He couldn’t stay behind and help. Unless he and Alexia were able to defeat the Assassin, the war was lost.
Alexia forced more than a million images from her mind. Far quicker than she’d have thought possible, her ability to communicate with the Clear Eyes had become second nature. She could see through the eyes of any animal, or all of them if she wished, and she could understand their thoughts. Some communicated through images, some through vibrations or smells or a mixture of all of it. Alexia had no problem deciphering it.
A winged Shadule swept over, yet Alexia felt no fear. She’d never been this angry or heartbroken in her life. Elion and Mrs. Dumphry had been killed because she’d been stupid enough to bring the enemy into their camp. Guilt tore through her as she leaped from the grizzly’s back.
Alexia soared, clinging to the shrieking Shadule. It wrapped its clawed fingers around her neck, but she struck it with the pale blade, the same blade the Grendall had used on Elion and Mrs. Dumphry. She’d taken it, intending to use it on the Assassin. Alexia dropped back down atop the grizzly as the Shadule tumbled lifelessly to the ground behind her.
The grizzly galloped toward the base of the mountain. Alexia whispered into the bear’s ear, urging him on. A spear-bearing Shadule swept down, but before it could attack, a winged lion crashed into it. Alexia sent a stone into an ostrich-faced Oriax as a camel trotted past and kicked away a pig-snouted wolverine. Vines shot from the earth to wrap around the grizzly, but the bear was too strong. It ran through them.
“Watch out!” Josiah called.
Alexia turned as a thorny branch slammed into her chest. She fell from the grizzly as her Gang of Rogues surrounded her. Juno threw out an arm and hoisted Alexia up to sit behind her on a giraffe. The giraffe leaped forward, and Alexia’s gang spread out on either side, forming a protective circle around her.
Arthur sent fifty bolts of lightning exploding into the ranks of Shadow Souled as he ran beside Jack. Whenever a dark servant came too close, Jack battled it with Ashandar or sent it away in a burst of light and wind. Wild worked his quarterstaff, Andreal wielded both half-mooned axes like a madman, and Honi thrust his walking staff in wide circles, striking the Shadow Souled and sending golden sparks along the dark servants’ skin as they fell.
In the midst of the insanity, Arthur was most amazed with his parents. His father expertly wielded a sword with a blade that was twice as long as Arthur. Even the Shadule were thrust aside by the brute force of the thing. Though Arthur couldn’t understand what his mother was doing, she took down twice as many dark servants as his father, working her knitting needles as she marched through the madness. By the looks of it, she was knitting Arthur a new coat. Each time an enemy came close, she flicked a needle toward it, and the enemy was hurled away as if had been hit by a mammoth fist.
The ground split open, threatening to swallow Arthur and his friends, but before they dropped more than a pace, the earth fought back. A bridge of ice formed beneath them. Arthur shared an amazed look with Jack as they ran along the ice.
This battle was far different from the one in the Quagmire. While most of the world fought to destroy them, some of the earth was fighting to save them. The ice bridge shattered as lava shot upward, but this time Arthur was ready with a platform of light. Fifty trees blocked their way, and Parker screamed as he leaped into them. The trees trampled Jack’s older brother, then suddenly dried up and burst apart, leaving him miraculously unharmed.
The Sephari were everywhere, wielding slim blades in a fury that pushed back dark servants and trees with equal ease. They ran through the air, each footprint leaving colored mist as their song resounded through the valley.
“We’re nearing the base of the mountain,” Parker called back. “Only a short distance farther, and—” An Oriax slammed into Parker, hurling him away.
“Parker!” Arthur screamed.
“No!” Jack shouted. He fought his way toward where Parker had fallen. Arthur’s shield of light formed around Jack as he knelt over his brother.
Blood seeped from Parker’s mouth as his lifeless eyes stared blankly at the slithering sky. “No!” Jack screamed at the mountain. “I won’t let you have him!” He closed his eyes and embraced his note, soaring through time.
When Jack’s feet hit the ground, he arrived a few seconds earlier and stood behind his brother in the midst of the Shadow Souled. He spun and sent a hundred of them hurling through space and time. “How dare you try and take my brother from me,” he screamed.
“We’re nearing the base of the mountain,” Parker called to the Jack from a few seconds earlier. “Only a short distance farther, and we’ll be there!” And in one smooth motion, Jack dispatched the Oriax.
Parker stared at the lifeless Oriax a moment and then at Jack. “What did you just do?”
“I won’t let the Assassin have you, too.” Jack hugged his brother. Suddenly he felt as if someone had kicked him in the gut. In the space of a single breath, the oxygen was gone.
Alexia gasped as all oxygen left the air. Juno clutched her throat as every Awakened and Clear Eyes, every Shadow Souled stumbled to a stop, choking on nothing. The giraffe collapsed, and Alexia landed next to a wheezing Shadule. She rose to her knees, but the corners of her vision were darkening.
A short distance away, a crack ripped through the earth. Tears streamed from her eyes as thousands of Clear Eyes, Awakened, and dark servants were swallowed up. Alexia fell facedown in the dirt, gagging. A cool wind whipped through, and with it came fresh oxygen. The valley began to move as animal, human, and creature filled their lungs.
Alexia pulled Juno to her feet and hurled the pale blade into a rising Shadule. She strode over and yanked the blade free as her gang gathered round. “We’re almost there!” Alexia shouted as the Clear Eyes galloped, leaped, slithered, and soared around them in a circle of protection.
The Valley of Elah boiled as the Awakened, Clear Eyes, and jungle fought to move to the mountain. Arthur formed his light into a battering ram and slammed it into the chest of a Drogule. The monster dropped to its knees as Arthur and his friends darted past. Arthur struck a turtle-faced Oriax with a streak of lightning as Jack sent fifty Shadow Souled away in a burst of wind and light. The Sephari anthem resounded above the roar of battle, but the song diminished each time one of them died. Everywhere Arthur looked, the Awakened were being defeated. Flaming trees thrashed about in a high-pitched keening. The Shadow Souled
climbed atop the giants, taking them down scores at a time. Creeping vines strangled the crawling plants, and swarms of Awakened butterflies, ladybugs, crickets, and more were swallowed in thick clouds of plague-ridden insects.
Arthur and Jack stumbled as they reached the black rock. “We made it!” Jack gasped. Arthur turned to see his parents, Sage, Aliyah, and the others arrive with another thousand or so Awakened, trees, giants, and Sephari. The Awakened formed ranks four deep to keep the enemy back—and suddenly Arthur and Jack had no one to fight. They stood on their toes, searching for Alexia.
“She should be here by now,” Arthur shouted.
“There!” Jack pointed. Fifty winged Shadule circled an area a short distance away. Thousands of Clear Eyes fought to keep them back but were hopelessly outnumbered. “Alexia must be in there somewhere.” Jack’s hand tightened on Ashandar.
“No.” Wild placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Let us go get her. We can’t risk you going back into the middle of this. You need to go up the mountain.”
Jack shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere without my sister.” With a dangerous look in his eyes, he turned and strode back into the madness.
“You must have drawn every Shadule in the Assassin’s army!” Josiah shouted. At least fifty of the creatures circled above, and another hundred or more slithered around the menagerie of Clear Eyes.
“They smell the Poet’s Coffer,” Alexia called as she sliced a Shadule across the ribs. Arthur had insisted that one of the Children of Prophecy should carry the coffer into battle, and Jack had been adamant that Alexia be the one to carry it. As she fought now, she was sure the coffer was helping her in some way. She was far less exhausted than she should have been. The small wooden box radiated energy as it vibrated in her cloak pocket.
Benaiah was everywhere. He fought with two long blades, and the boy was unstoppable. He spun, kicked, and leaped about, landing on the back of a Shadule and striking it even as he leaped to the next. Alexia knew Summer could heal with her Soulprint, but as she fought by Alexia’s side, she did the opposite. Summer had no weapon; she turned in a slow circle as she walked. Every Shadule that came close dropped as if utterly exhausted. Juno fought with unbelievable skill. Flames danced along her whip, and where it struck, the enemy dropped like stones. Addy’s Soulprint wasn’t one of war, and though the small girl wielded her knives with precision, she stayed close to Josiah, who spent much of his energy fighting to protect her.
Three Shadule struck at the same time. Alexia spun in a tight circle, the Assassin’s blade taking care of two of the creatures even as Juno’s whip dispatched the third. “I don’t think we’re going to make it!” Juno said through gritted teeth.
Tens of thousands of Clear Eyes were dying every second, and each death was a knife to Alexia’s heart. She was the Star Child; she’d led them into the Final Hunt, and they were being slaughtered. Alexia glanced toward the mountain. So close! Twenty Shadule exploded away in a burst of light as wind whipped at her cloak.
“Jack!” she shouted. Her brother strode through the madness, striking out with Ashandar. A spindly vine shot from the earth to wrap around her neck, but another thick, green vine ripped it away.
Wild, Arthur, and many more Awakened followed just behind Jack. Alexia and her gang didn’t waste a second; they sprinted toward the base of the mountain as the Clear Eyes protected their backs.
As they stepped onto the black rock of the mountain, Jack hugged Alexia for a moment, then stepped away. “We need to go,” he said. “Every second we wait, more of the Awakened will die.”
Alexia stepped back, and turned to her gang and nodded. “Thank you,” she said. “For everything. You are the best friends I could have hoped for.” She turned to Arthur, saying, “You are the most courageous person I’ve ever met.” Without allowing herself to think, Alexia stepped forward and kissed Wild on the cheek. “Thank you for always looking out for me,” she whispered. Wild’s cheeks flushed.
Jack stepped back from Arthur and Parker, then turned to Alexia. “What do you say, Sister, should we go destroy the Assassin?”
“I’ll race you to the top,” she said. Jack nodded, and both children broke into a run.
Chapter 23
The Fullness
Jack Staples and Alexia Dreager ascended the mountain, each step sending black shale tumbling down. After a few minutes of running, they slowed to a walk as reality sank in. “You know he’ll never let them live,” Jack said.
“I know,” Alexia said. “He is going to kill them both, and then he’s going to kill us.”
Jack didn’t respond. He knew they couldn’t stop. This was what they’d been born to do, to face the Assassin in the Last Battle.
Earthquakes rattled the foundations of the world, yet the mountain remained relatively still. A great roar sounded, and Jack turned to see stars falling from the heavens. The first star to hit the earth careened into the distant ocean, sending a vast tsunami crashing toward shore. A nearby mountain erupted, spraying volcanic ash and lava. The world was breaking, and there was no stopping it.
Jack shared a fearful look with his sister before continuing upward. They topped a false summit, and there lurked the demon Belial. It waited in the shadow of the mountain, with James Staples and Madeleine Dreager on either side. One of the demon’s thick feelers was wrapped around each of their necks.
Though the demon was in no way similar to the diamond-skinned Assassin he’d fought twice before, Jack was sure it was the same wretched being. No earthly creature could be so purely evil as what hulked before him now—a sickly thing of beaks, claws, tentacles, and one dripping eye. Both Madeleine Dreager and James Staples watched their children with fear-filled eyes, but they couldn’t speak.
“Dare to look upon my handiwork!” the demon wheezed. “The end has come! A world reformed in my image.” The world crumbled as lightning, hurricanes, fires, and tsunamis filled the horizon. The battle still raged in the valley, but it was clear the Awakened would soon be finished.
The demon laughed as the mountain shook.
From what Arthur could see, only a handful of giants were still alive. Even more chilling, the Sephari song had ended minutes ago, cutting off abruptly. The few thousand Awakened still standing fought with their backs to the mountain against the innumerable hordes of darkness. Arthur peered toward the top of the mountain. If you’re going to do something, you need to do it soon! If they were lucky, the Awakened might last another hour.
A number of trees and crawling plants still fought, though most were on fire. They didn’t stay together like the humans and animals but flowed through the Shadow Souled, thrashing about wildly.
“There’s not going to be anything left to save!” Sage hollered as she leaped over Arthur and sunk her claws into a Shadule, hurling it away.
Arthur nodded as a nearby mountain exploded in an eruption of lava and ash. He formed a shield and stretched it out to cover as many of the Awakened as possible. He dropped to his knees as a heavy weight suddenly pressed down on every part of his body. Whatever was forcing him to the ground was also affecting everything. Tree branches began snapping as winged Clear Eyes and monsters rocketed to the ground.
“What’s happening?” he cried.
“It’s the gravity,” Honi groaned. “It’s fighting against us!”
Everything in the valley was being crushed. The Assassin is killing his own followers! Arthur couldn’t tear his eyes away from the shelled bugs that had been biting at him a moment earlier. They imploded as their hard shells cracked and squished inward. How do we fight gravity? It was a frantic thought. Arthur groaned as he pushed himself upward. He felt as heavy as a house but managed to climb to his knees.
A great popping sound exploded across the valley, and suddenly Arthur was as light as air. He’d been pressing so hard against the ground, he was thrust upward and didn’t come back down. Arthur screa
med as he slammed into a canopy of branches. A thorny branch swatted him away, and he crashed into a rising Sage, bringing them both to the ground. Rock, earth, Awakened, and Shadow Souled ascended all around them.
“Grab my hand!” his father shouted. Arthur’s father gripped a thick vine that kept him from floating up. Arthur reached for his father as the gravity righted itself and the world crashed back down.
This is the end, Arthur thought as he and Sage landed in a heap. There is no fighting gravity.
“Let them go!” Jack shouted. “If you hurt them, I’ll—”
“You are not in command here, boy,” the demon wheezed as it slumped to the edge of a great precipice. The demon lifted James Staples and Madeleine Dreager so they hovered over the sheer drop. “All you have ever been is the Author’s puppet. He used you to fight me, and now you have failed.” The demon’s leaking eye turned to survey the world. “Can’t you see? Before long the only thing left in this world will be the mountain beneath your feet. It is over! I have won the War of Time. If the Author ever cared about this world, he would have fought by your side. But where is he? Why hasn’t he come to your rescue? The decision is yours, Children of Prophecy,” the demon wheezed. “Bow before me, and I will command my armies to retreat. Bend your knees, and I will free your parents. You can still save what’s left of your pathetic world.”
Jack placed a hand on Ashandar, and the demon tightened its feelers. Jack’s father and Alexia’s mother gasped and began turning blue. “Drop your blade, boy.”
“Jack,” Alexia said, “I don’t know if that’s truly your father or my mother, but he can’t be trusted.”
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