The Quest Saga Collection: Books 1 - 5

by Dhayaa Anbajagane

  A wall of fire flared out of the ground, standing straight in Arthur’s pathway. Of course, such a measure was not any kind of threat for him. He chuckled and glanced over at Q.

  Good, we got his attention, Q concentrated.

  “Get ready,” he said. He thrust a wall of light between him and Arthur. The energy beings attacked Arthur in his distraction, but the Masked Magician kept his eyes on Q. He shot towards him, crashing through the wall as if it were paper.

  “This is it,” Q said.

  Arthur coiled up his arms, lining up a massive attack. Q built his shield up in front of him, and covered his body with his energy suit. But he knew that wouldn’t be enough. He knew this attack was probably going to kill him.

  But this was the only way to stop everything.

  He stared right into Arthur’s eyes as the former White Knight threw his punch.

  A splatter of blood hit Q’s shield.

  But no punch came.

  Q gasped in horror at the pierced body in front of him.

  Levi lay in front of his shield, the Masked Magician’s arms pierced through his chest, but his own arm pressing the mask onto Arthur’s face.

  The dark energy being screamed out as the mask glowed brightly. He fell to the floor, his body shuddering with every second. The energy beings shot down, trying to strengthen the mask even more.

  Q rushed out of his shield, jumping over to Levi’s side. The green-eyed devil had a smile on his face. “Well, that could have gone better,” he chuckled, his chest stained with blood. He weakly moved his trembling arms and pulled out a black box from underneath his robes.

  Q took it from him and opened it up to see three syringes of blue liquid inside them. “The antidote,” he teared up. He looked at Levi, whose eyes were fluttering open and closed as the pain took hold of his mind.

  “A promise is a promise,” he croaked, his voice growing weaker by the second. “But do not take too long to use the antidote. Your friends cannot hold on much longer.”

  “You’re crazy, you’re obscene, you’re insane, and you’ve hurt me and everyone I know in a way we can never recover from,” Q said. “So why can’t I stop feeling sorry for you?”

  “It is in our nature to weep for the dead,” he coughed hard, his breathing turning shallow.

  “If only you didn’t have that mad side to you.”

  Levi smiled at him, his eyes slowly closing. “Sometimes you need madness just to face yourself, sorcerer.”

  The man who caused every ounce of pain and horror in Q’s life finally disappeared.

  And yet Q couldn’t bring himself to say he deserved it.

  Because he knew deep within, he really didn’t.

  ***

  Q pocketed the black box and turned around.

  A sudden shock wave hit him hard, sending him flying over the rooftops. His energy suit absorbed most of the impact and steadied him in the air.

  He looked down, and his face immediately changed.

  Arthur was picking himself up, the white glow of his mask slowly fading away. The energy beings stood around him, using their powers to strengthen the mask’s seal, but the light just kept fading.

  And then, it disappeared.

  The rooftop exploded, and a dark shockwave spread out. Arthur stood in the middle of it all, his hands hanging from his body in exhaustion. His head turned to them, his blood-red eyes glaring at everyone around him, at the energy beings, at Q.

  “You dare think you can stop me?” he held his mask in his hand. “You will pay for that.” He crushed the seal, crumbling it into pieces.

  The energy beings all fell to the floor, their energy spent, their spirit no longer as strong as it was. They had finally succumbed to Arthur’s overwhelming powers.

  Q knew he needed something else.

  “Zelph!” he yelled.

  “Two minutes and twenty three seconds left, boss,” the AI unit said.

  That’s too long, he realized. They wouldn’t be able to hold Arthur back for even a quarter of that time.

  Suddenly, a metal shell constructed itself around Arthur, trapping him within. Sounds of fist against metal came from within, as Arthur tried to break free, but the metal cocoon held on. Q looked below him, and there, on a rooftop, stood the three people he had least expected to see.

  Taylor. Chris. Kai.

  They stood still, staring at the shrouded metal cocoon in front of them. Q wondered what their thoughts were like at the moment. Now that Levi, their puppeteer, was gone, who were they going to listen to?

  His eyes widened. The antidote! He tensed. He quickly picked up the box, nearly dropping it with his lazy hands. He pulled out the syringes, carefully uncapping their needles. He rushed down to the rooftop, to Kai, who didn’t react to his movements at all.

  Maybe they’ll listen to me, Q thought as pushed the needle into Kai’s neck and let the blue fluid flow through. Kai’s body trembled for a moment and he instantly collapsed to the ground, shivering.

  Did Levi trick me? Q panicked.

  Kai froze still, and his eyes opened. He glanced around him. “Q?” he asked, dazed. “I feel like I just had a bad dream.”

  Q smiled widely, trying hard not to tear up. “Welcome back, buddy,” he said softly.

  A metal shard flew over Q. He looked back and saw the metal cocoon slowly break. Without the serum, Kai didn’t have enough power to hold out against Arthur.

  Q handed Kai the syringes. “Give this to Chris and Taylor,” he said. “Pierce the neck.”

  Kai seemed confused, but nodded and took the syringes. Q turned around and raced to the edge of the surface, jumping off the rooftop, heading straight for the cocoon.

  I’m going to hold you off for as long as I can, Arthur, he said, his will renewed by the fact that he had the antidote now, that it wouldn’t be long before Taylor woke up from this nightmare, that he would get to see the most important part of his life again.

  The metal cocoon exploded, and a concentrated beam of dark, chaotic energy shot outwards, sizzling right past Q.

  He turned around, his eyes horrified, his entire existence screaming out. He could see where the attack was heading, he could see what was going to happen. He could see who was going to die.

  Taylor.

  ***

  5-4

  Q’s eyes traced the black beam of death heading to Taylor, and his body immediately moved, willing himself to catch up to the beam and protect her.

  Taylor though, casually threw her hand up and swiped to her side. The beam angled sharply and turned away, towards the side she swiped to, hitting an empty street instead. The beam exploded on impact, sending a cloud of smoke into the air.

  Q watched her wide eyed, utterly stunned.

  “What the hell?” the Masked Magician froze, expressing confusion for the first time ever. He shot another beam at her and Taylor swiped it away, to the same side, to the exact same spot as before.

  “How the hell are you doing that?!” he yelled, firing multiple beams at once. She sent them all flying high, and into space.

  Q landed on the rooftop she was on, completely stunned by what was going on.

  “She’s got her energy levels highly accelerated,” Chris walked up to him, her voice cold as usual.

  “Chris!” he hugged her.

  “Nice to see you again too,” she put on a small smile.

  Q felt a deathly dark aura behind him. He turned around and saw the Masked Magician gather a dark flame around him. Taylor stared at him, her feet still, her body not moving an inch. So far she had fended off every one of his attacks, and she had yet to take a single step.

  “The Tenebrae EcQuest has removed her energy limiter,” Kai said. “She’s way more powerful than she should be.”

  That meant that even though Taylor was a sorceress, she was expelling her life energy at rates even an energy being couldn’t achieve.

  “Who are you?!” the Masked Magician yelled and shot towards Taylor.

  She summ
oned a dark flame around her and thundered into the sky, sending a shockwave that left the roof crumbling.

  “Jump! Now!” Q yelled and threw himself onto the roof of the house next to him. He watched Kai and Chris follow him just as the rooftop crumbled in one go, breaking into mere dust and crumbs.

  He looked up at the sky and saw two specks of darkness fighting it out.

  Zelph, is it ready? Q asked.

  “I just put in the last bit of code, boss,” the AI system said. “But I don’t think I can do anything for the moment. The target is too fast.”

  Got it, Q said. How long does he need to be stable?

  “Five seconds,” he said. “Give me five seconds.”

  Q grinned. I’ll give you ten.

  Waves of darkness washed over them as Taylor and the Masked Magician went up against each other, their blows stirring up thunderous sounds.

  A sense of calmness came over Q, his mind feeling ease at seeing Taylor move, at seeing her alive, at seeing her fly through the air. His beautiful streak of darkness.

  Use it, young one, the energy beings’ voice rang into his mind. You are finally ready. Trust yourself.

  Q hesitated. What if I lose control? he asked.

  Do not be afraid, they said. Fear will confuse you. Be brave. Be calm.

  Q focused his mind. He took a deep breath, and turned to Kai. “Do you have the other syringe?”

  He nodded and handed him the syringe filled with blue liquid. “What are you going to do?”

  Q smiled. “Something I was never supposed to.”

  He stepped onto the edge of the rooftop, his eyes closed, the wind in his face, clarity in his mind. He felt the air around him, he felt the atoms inside them. Raw energy flowed around his body with every second that passed.

  He could feel the houses around him, the streets, the people, the happiness, the fear. He could feel the skies and the clouds, the planets and the stars.

  He could feel the Universe.

  And the Universe could feel him.

  Raw power coursed into his body, not from within, but from outside. The Universe’s essence filled his existence. His back arched as pain writhed into his nerves, his blood coursing with what felt like molten lava. He held in his screams, his mind feeling every emotion he could.

  And then it all stopped.

  He opened his eyes, now no longer a silver-grey, but a pure white. His hair shifted colors, going from deep black to silver-grey. A roaring flame enveloped his body, a mystical flame of burning white.

  Q took a deep breath. “Now we’re talking,” he said, hearing his own voice in dual tones. He shot upward, sending a shockwave through the roof he was on, crumbling it to dust in half a second.

  The Masked Magician noticed him and tried to dodge his path. Q stayed on course and waited half a second more, until he was right above the man. He recoiled his arm, lining up his hatred, his fear, his anger, his sorrow; everything that the Masked Magician had caused.

  His fist launched into the dark being, and he went crashing into the ground, taking less than a millisecond to crunch into it. A massive shockwave erupted, washing through the city, cracking every bit of rock that it touched.

  He noticed Taylor behind him, her face blank, her emotions mute. He floated up towards her and picked up the syringe.

  A laugh echoed in Q’s ears. “I finally have someone to play with.”

  The Masked Magician shot upward, grabbing onto Q and taking him down to the city. Q thrashed about, trying to break free, but the Magician gripped him tight and he went crashing into the houses, breaking through a row of them in seconds.

  Q gripped onto the Masked Magician’s arm and plied his hands away. He wasted no time and grabbed onto the flailing Magician, throwing him straight up into the air.

  “Zelph,” Q said. “On my command.”

  Q flew up behind the Magician and saw the man already hurtling down towards him, his dark flame making him appear like an arrow.

  Q lifted his hands above his head, and his power exploded from within. A thick shield of light formed around Arthur and trapped him within it. The dark being rammed into the wall but couldn’t even cause a scratch.

  “What the hell is going on?!” he yelled out.

  Zelph, Q said. Three.

  He floated up to the containment shield.

  Two.

  He saw the Masked Magician’s blood-red eyes.

  One, he said.

  He saw one, sole emotion explode within them.

  Fire.

  He saw fear.

  ***

  Q watched a massive beam of purple shoot right towards him, its color glowing and fading at the same time.

  “The Infinity Cannon cannot defeat me, you fool!” the Masked Magician yelled, covering up his fear.

  “Fun fact,” Q said, staring at the beam charging towards him. “If you twist the code of the Infinity Cannon around, you can make it fire anti-energy instead of raw energy.”

  The Masked Magician looked blankly at the beam just yards away from him, his eyes showing he already knew what was going to happen. The beam pierced through Q’s shield, and the Masked Magician along with it.

  The dark being began to glow, his powerful form slowly dissipating into mere dust. A smile shone on his face. “You were a great nemesis, sorcerer,” he said.

  And with that, the destroyer had finally been destroyed.

  Q slowly lowered himself down, his eyes still staring at the spot the Masked Magician vanished from. He looked down at the city below him, at the crushed houses, the cracked walls, at the fissured streets. He saw hundreds of people collapsed on the ground, some dead, most of them injured.

  “That was amazing!” Kai said as Q lowered himself down. “What did you do?”

  “I can channel any external energy source I can find,” he said. “Right now I’m channeling the largest one in existence. The Universe itself.”

  “Q!” Chris yelled, pointing to her side.

  Q turned, and his heart immediately stopped.

  Taylor floated above a rooftop, her eyes slowly turning dark, her flame becoming larger and more chaotic, her streams of darkness going wild against the city.

  The Tenebrae EcQuest is overpowering her! his mind screamed as he shot towards her, the syringe in his hand.

  She exploded with darkness, sending everything around them into pitch black hell. Q looked down, and no longer saw the city, nor the houses, nor his friends. The sky disappeared from his view, and so had everything else.

  Taylor’s body began to vibrate, shockwaves quickly shooting away from her in all directions. He felt a surge of energy build up inside her, overpowering her from within.

  “It’s you,” his eyes widened, his heart quivered, his mind froze. “The shockwave,” he said, his voice weak. “You’re the one that causes that shockwave.” He looked at her blankly. “You’re the NOVA warrior who destroys the world.”

  Q felt the shockwaves push him back further as they became more powerful. He panicked as he realized what was going on. Taylor was channeling the Universe’s energy. But she was not doing it in bits like he had. She was absorbing all of it.

  And soon she was going to release it in one shot, in one horrific explosion.

  His mind snapped out of his daze, and immediately worked like clockwork. He cut through her pressurizing aura and grabbed onto her arm. She thrashed about, her dark flame pushing against his white-hot one. He pulled out the syringe from under his cloak and punctured her neck.

  Nothing happened.

  “Taylor!” he held her tight, his arms holding her shoulders, bearing the shockwaves that passed through him with every second. Her body began to glow, a thin veil of white light around her frame. Her eyes shifted colors, going from pitch black to sparkling blue.

  She looked at him, a smile on her face. “Silver hair looks good on you,” she said, her hand reaching up to his face and gently caressing his cheek.

  The shockwaves became violent and painful, b
ut Q still held onto her, his face wincing.

  “Q,” she glanced at him, her voice weak.

  Q looked at her, at her elven-white face, at her jewel like eyes. He had gone through every form of hell, torture and pain, all because he wanted to see her, because he wanted to be with her again, because he wanted to be with her forever.

  “I love you,” he kissed her, his mind melting into the moment. He held her tight, her warmth coursing into him, comforting him, making him feel like everything was going to be okay.

  But the shockwaves turned stronger.

  Taylor pulled away from him and leaned into his ear. “I’m sorry, Q,” she whispered, her breath tickling his skin.

  Taylor pushed him away with one hand and snatched Valkyrie from his side with the other, all in one fluid motion. One beautiful, sinister motion.

  “I’ve always loved you, Q,” she said, a smile on her face, tears on her cheek. “From the moment we met.”

  Golden runes glowed on the Valkyrie’s blade as a dark flame emerged around it. Taylor flipped the sword around, and impaled her chest with the blade, driving it right through her body. Her eyes instantly went bloodshot, and her body arched with pain.

  The shockwaves immediately stopped, and everything turned calm.

  “NO!” Q screamed and he shot towards her. He pulled out the blade, his eyes watching in horror at the blood she was losing.

  “We can heal you,” he rambled, his hands putting pressure on her wound. “We can get you to Chris. She can definitely save you. Or we could find someone here to-”

  She put her finger on his lips, tears falling from her eyes. She wrapped her hands around him and pulled him in, kissing him once more. Q held her, his fingers feeling her skin lose its warmth, his arms feeling her body go limp as her strength faded away.

  She pulled back, her cheeks flushing bright red. She looked into his eyes, and gently brushed the tears off his cheek.

  Her body began to glow, her essence slowly dissolving away.

  “Keep looking at the stars for me,” Taylor smiled, crystal tears running down her face.