by Lola StVil
“Let me guess. None came back?” I say.
“No, they stayed as part of her harem and made lots of little spider babies,” Ryder laughs.
Milo shudders again.
“None came back,” Lucas confirms.
“Not a whole lot is known about Arianna and the ship, except what Lucas has told you. In general, she is a peaceful creature and doesn’t go looking for trouble as long as she is kept in food. The people of a small village down the road from the ship take part in a ritual every month or so and nominate someone to be sacrificed as food for Arianna. This means she doesn’t have to go on the killing sprees she used to carry out. To be a chosen sacrifice is a great honor to the villagers and they compete to see who will win the honor of saving their village from a rampaging Arianna.”
“She sounds delightful,” I comment.
“She is what she is. Make no mistake, she is a killing machine that will not hesitate to tear you apart given the chance. The villagers created the Sirbisses and the Deviators to ensure no one gets onto that boat and reminds Arianna of her power.”
“And let me guess, there’s no way to kill her?”
“On the contrary, she can be killed with the right weapon,” Emmy says.
She nods to Rage, who produces a small blackened dagger.
“This is a demon blade, it can be used to kill Arianna. It is forged from angel bones and smeared with demon tears, dipped in angels’ blood and seared in the very flames of Difi. It can undo any demon’s curse.”
“So why has no one used one before?” Dylann asks.
“People have tried, but here’s the thing. The blade has to penetrate Arianna’s heart. Her human heart.”
“Can we throw it?” Milo asks.
Rage shakes his head. “It has to be in contact with the person who will use it when it penetrates her.”
I process what he’s saying. Someone will have to get past her army of trained spiders and somehow mount her spider body and put the blade directly into her heart.
Fish holds her hand out for the dagger.
“Me,” she says.
Rage looks to me.
“Why you?” I ask Fish.
“Emmy said it herself. I can get in and out of places no one else can.”
“Why would you do that for us though? Why would you risk it?”
She looks at Nix and lets out a sigh.
“Because regardless of what people think of me, I do have some morals, you know. I don’t know how many times I need to prove that I am not all bad, no matter what anyone thinks. I saved Nikki, didn’t I? And from a selfish point of view, I don’t want the great evil unleashed any more than the rest of you do. That means you need to get this piece of pendant, right?”
I nod. Fish looks me straight in the eye.
“I can do this, Summit. I’m the only one who can. And you know it.”
She’s right.
“Okay,” I agree.
Rage hands her the dagger and in the blink of an eye it’s gone, buried somewhere deep on Fish’s person.
“That’s pretty much all we know,” Emmy says.
“Get yourselves ready to leave,” Rage says, looking me in the eye.
Lucas stands up.
“I’m going to call Cassidy, then go and say goodbye to Nikki,” he says.
“Cassidy, your ex-girlfriend, Cassidy?” Nix asks.
“Cassidy, the girl I kissed a couple of times,” Lucas corrects him.
“I’m going to ask her to come over and sit with Nikki while we’re gone.”
Everyone gets up and prepares to leave. Dylann puts her hand on my arm and motions me to follow her out into the hallway.
“I have to go and see Davis,” she says.
“What part of Grandma saying we need to get ready to leave makes you think you have time to go and make out with your junkie boyfriend?” I ask.
“It’s not that,” she says. “When Lucas said he was going to say goodbye to Nikki, I don’t know. It just made me realize we might not make it back. I might not make it back.”
“You will make it back. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“You know that’s not a promise you can make. I just want to say goodbye to him. Just in case,” she says with a sad smile.
I know I should say no, but I can’t help wondering how I would feel if I was going into this without Lucas and I couldn’t even say goodbye.
“Call him, but make it quick. And don’t tell anyone else,” I answer, unsure if I’m doing the right thing.
“Thank you,” she says and rushes to the stairs.
It’s not long before we all meet in the family room again, ready and waiting to leave. Dylann and I have said our goodbyes to Rage and Emmy and had their pep talks. They are off in the kitchen now talking about who knows what. Cassidy has arrived and Lucas has taken her to Nikki’s room.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” I ask Milo quietly while we wait for Lucas to return.
He nods, although he looks anything but okay.
“I’ll either die or get over my fear of spiders. Seriously, Sunny, I’m in this. We’re a team—I will never be the one to abandon you in your time of need, and we’ll all have to face things that scare us,” he says with a tear in his eye.
I can’t argue with that.
“I did what I had to do, just stop okay? You sound like Summit,” Lucas shouts.
A pause.
“Yes. The girl who said shit in your castle. She was there because she’s like me. Unlike you, we understand family and loyalty.” He lowers his voice.
Lucas storms into the room, his face angry as he continues yelling into his cell phone.
“Oh seriously, Dad, if you knew the first thing about caring for those you claim to love, you’d get it.”
He hangs up the phone.
“Ready?” he asks.
“How could you talk to him like that knowing you might not survive the day? He’s only on you about The Jackal because he cares about you,” Nix snaps, angry.
“You’re the last person who should be defending him,” Lucas snaps back.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nix asks.
“Nix was just saying—” Parker starts.
Lucas interrupts her.
“I know what Nix was saying. He’s my brother. I don’t need a translator.”
Parker’s face drops.
“I’m sorry,” Lucas says to her, the anger gone.
“No, it’s okay,” she says, barely in a whisper.
“I guess what I was trying to say is you shouldn’t be so quick to help Nix defend my father. I get it. You want Nix to see you, like really see you. But the thing is, maybe he can’t because…”
Emmy comes in and claps her hands loudly. The noise shocks Lucas into silence.
“Time to go. You know where you’re going, right?” she asks, still nervous.
I realize I have no idea where we’re going exactly, but Parker nods.
“Follow me,” she says and launches into the air and out of the lounge window.
“What were you going to say?” Nix asks as Ryder and RJ take to the air.
“Later, I promise,” Lucas says with a reassuring smile.
With that, he takes to the air too.
With a sigh, I follow him, making sure to remain between Nix and Lucas. I don’t know what’s going on, but I know if they talk about it now, it can only mean trouble. And we’re going to have enough of that as it is.
We fly, following Parker as she cuts an expert path through the sky. It’s like she’s got an inbuilt GPS, because when we touch down, we’re in the exact spot.
“One step that way, and we’re in,” Parker says, pointing to her right.
I look around us. To one side lies a huge, dirty looking river. It rushes past us at breakneck speeds. On the other side are miles and miles of empty space. The sandy floor is broken now and again by small spots of greenery and the odd straggly piece of grass.
It feels like we’re t
he only living things here, but I know better. I know what waits for us on the other side of the enchantment.
The team waits for me to lead them. I take a deep breath and step through the Triplex shield. The team follows me closely.
The ship comes into sight. It’s a huge old cruise liner ship. Its massive white body sits, broken and tattered, on the edge of the water. The rust is just as clear as the holes in the side of the ship. There is a dense fog that surrounds the whole area, and a path of various bones and skulls lead up to the boarding dock, where a bridge covered in spiderwebs leads up into the ship. I imagine at one time it was meant to be dismantled until the spider queen took up residence here. We’ll have to do this the hard way.
We share uneasy glances. Everything is as still and quiet as it was outside of the circle.
I take a step forward, then another. The team follows closely on my heels. Milo grabs my hand tightly and follows closely behind, giving me a reassuring wink.
I’m just starting to think this might be easy when I sense movement coming around the side of the ship.
I tense.
A group of hideous looking skeletal creatures scuttle around the edge of the ship. I raise my palms, ready to strike.
As my hands come up, I hear a clear beautiful voice rise in a song. Another voice joins it and another, until it sounds like Omnis himself has sent down a choir just for us.
I drag my attention back to the creatures. My palms drop to my side as I see Lucas walking towards me.
What was I thinking? There are no skeletal creatures. Only Lucas. The sun shines behind him, catching in his hair and making it look like spun gold. His eyes sparkle with love.
He crosses the gap between us and stands before me, his eyes searching my face. There’s something not quite right about his eyes, but I don’t know what it is.
I don’t care. He’s here before me. He chose me over Nikki.
A warning voice in the back of my mind screams at me, telling me this isn’t Lucas, it’s a Sirbiss.
As Lucas leans down to kiss me, the voice in my head falls silent.
Lucas’s lips are less than an inch from mine. I can almost feel their warm softness. I feel as though I can already taste him, and it makes me feel whole again. My body aches for him.
I hear a scream. Loud and piercing. Dylann. I pull back from Lucas, trying to spot her. He looks angry, but I don’t care.
How is he not jumping into action to help Dylann?
As I frantically scan the area around me, a bell rings. The tiny sound fills the air and I watch in horror as Lucas’s face melts, replaced with a skull. A fly emerges from his eye socket.
I jump back just as the thing’s fingers reach for me. I quickly blast it and it falls to the floor.
All around me, the team are doing the same thing. Except Dylann, who I finally spot on the ground. A Sirbiss kneels beside her, plucking at her. There’s blood everywhere.
I run towards her. A small ball of light rushes towards my face as I run, and I duck, narrowly avoiding it.
I reach Dylann and pull the Sirbiss off her. I blast it with my powers and it too is gone. My relief doesn’t last long when I see the state of Dylann. She has been mauled, and there are inch-deep gouges all over her body. She is weak; her eyelids flutter as she fights to remain conscious.
“Dylann, hold on,” I beg.
“Parker. We need some help over here,” I scream over my shoulder.
Dylann forces her eyes open.
“You sent him away, and now he hates me. Because of you,” she screams angrily.
The look of hatred she gives me is almost too much to bear.
“It wasn’t Davis. It was a Sirbiss—it would have killed you.”
I don’t know whether or not she hears me because her eyes have closed.
Parker throws herself down beside us.
“Go. The Deviators are on Nix,” she says as she begins to heal Dylann.
I don’t want to leave Dylann’s side, but if Nix stops ringing that bell, we’re done for.
The Sirbisses are coming thick and fast now. They are almost harmless when the bell’s ringing, but the sheer number of them is enough to overwhelm us. And I don’t even want to think about what could happen if the bell stops.
I run through the crowd of Sirbisses, firing aimlessly as I head for Nix. He stands slightly away from the group, ringing the bell with one hand and desperately trying to ward off a swarm of Deviators with the other.
“Nix. Duck,” I yell as I reach them.
I don’t wait to see if he will follow my instruction. I know he will.
I fire a blast of purple beams and over half of the Deviators drop to the ground, writhing in fire. The screams they make as they burn pierce through my ears, and my hands fly up to cover them.
It feels like my head will explode. I can’t bear it.
The Deviators are strange looking creatures. They take the form of a small ball of orange light. Something about them looks warm and inviting. A voice in my head tells me if I just catch hold of one of them, the pain in my head will stop.
One of my hands falls away from my head and reaches out to touch a Deviator. I feel like I am moving in slow motion, and I feel the smile spreading across my face.
“Summit. No,” Nix yells.
I jerk my hand back, afraid of how close I came to falling under the Deviator’s spell. Nix keeps ringing the bell, and between us, we blast away at the remaining Deviators that surround us.
I glance across at the rest of the team. Lucas and RJ stand back to back, blasting the Sirbisses as they advance. Milo stands on the edge of the group, dropping a plank of wood on each Sirbiss in turn. RJ looks over and gives him a reassuring wink, which he catches out the corner of his eye. He doubles his efforts. He looks like he’s really enjoying himself.
Fish is something else. I can’t take my eyes off her. She darts in and out of the Sirbisses as though they aren’t there. She nimbly avoids groping fingers and hands and as she goes, she reaches out with precision timing, snapping the necks of the Sirbisses and throwing their skulls to the ground.
Parker has finished healing Dylann and she helps her to her feet. She looks a bit shaky but otherwise okay. She doesn’t seem to be bleeding anymore. I hope she can forgive me, not only for what she thinks I’ve just done, but also for involving Rage in getting her out of prison.
I feel my eyes widen in horror as I spot Ryder reaching out to grab at a stray Deviator. I open my mouth to shout out a warning, but I’m too late.
His hand closes over the orange light, and instantly, his face changes. His mouth widens in a grin which becomes a hearty laugh.
His hands reach up into the air and he begins to move in time with a beat only he can hear. He makes a series of whooping sounds. The noise catches the attention of the nearest Sirbiss, who breaks away from the pack and advances on Ryder.
“Hey, Skeletor, dance with me.” He laughs, motioning the Sirbiss over to him.
I’m torn. If I move away from Nix, he’ll be swarmed by the Deviators and we’ll all be as good as dead. If I don’t, Ryder will be torn to shreds.
An infamous line goes through my mind. The blood of one for the lives of many.
No. I can’t. I won’t.
I fire a ball into the air above Ryder. It explodes and showers down a spray of purple sparks.
“Fireworks.” Ryder laughs, watching the sparks as they rain down around him.
It works. Dylann looks towards the commotion and sees what’s happening. She blasts out a ball of blue fire and the Sirbiss who had ahold of Ryder explodes into nothingness.
“Summit,” Nix says.
I turn back to him and see the Deviators seem to have grown in their numbers. I can’t let myself get distracted like that again. I have to trust that the team will take care of their own parts while I take care of mine.
I nod to Nix, and together, face to face, we fire our beams towards each other. They meet between us with a huge explosion of n
oise and light.
“Nix, I have an idea. Follow my lead,” I yell to him.
I hope this works. All the Deviators and Sirbisses turn their attention to Nix and me.
I send the biggest blast I can muster without wearing myself out into the middle of the room. Nix gets my drift and sends a blast at my blast. We steady our blasts, putting as much control into them as we can. Left and right, Sirbisses are dropping, Deviators begin to flee for their lives. The blast sends shock waves through the air around us and within seconds all of the Deviators are finally down.
I reach out for Nix and blindly grab his head, pulling him away from their bodies before the awful screeching sound can get into our heads.
We run towards the team as the last of the Sirbisses is taken down. We stand together in a group, our eyes searching for any creatures we’ve missed.
“Stop ringing the bell and see what happens,” Lucas says.
Nix does as he suggests. We are on high alert, standing in a tight circle, able to face all directions, but no more Sirbisses appear.
“Is everyone okay?” I ask.
The group all nod mutely.
“I’m sorry I let one of those light things get the better of me,” Ryder says.
His face breaks into a grin.
“But it felt pretty damned good,” he adds.
“Are we gonna have to put you through rehab when we get home?” RJ jokes.
“Of course not. Just let me enjoy it, man,” Ryder says. For a second I think he’s angry, but he laughs.
We all laugh, relief in our voices.
“Those Sirbisses where something else, they were so real.”
I remember the kiss I almost shared with mine and I nod agreement.
“You must have had two, Lucas. You know, one for each girl,” he says, nudging Lucas’s arm playfully.
“Nope, just the one,” Lucas confirms, making eye contact across the circle.
I feel my heart break a little. We’re so done he doesn’t even get a Sirbiss of me.
Now isn’t the time, I tell myself.
“I could take a good guess who everyone saw except you, Milo,” Nix says.
Milo shrugs.
“Just what you’d expect. A hot guy with no shirt who wanted to do unspeakable things to me.”
“Same as me then.” Parker laughs.