Chapter Fifty-five

*Aaron*

True to what we said last night, we have a picnic. Milo, Gavin, Riley, Piper, my mother, Olivia, Theo, Grace, Benji, and Bri, along with Oswald and Exavier, and I take a tablecloth out to the gardens where we sit in the sun, eating meats and crackers, drinking juices and wine, relaxing with one another. To me, it's a reminder of what my life could be like, after we've taken care of Malexis. 

As we eat, we talk about the past. About how Milo ended up on a train of Lower Reach soldiers. About how my mother used to be sick from the potion Zelda gave her. About Riley and me fighting when we were children. Milo tells us about his past and his parents. Piper tells us about Corinth. My mother tells us embarrassing stories about Riley and me as children. We talk about Corianne, Criston, Gabriella, Criston, King Zannir. 

We talk about the future. About how we want to be happy. About Riley's plans for advancing Midoor. About my ideas of expanding the empire beyond Pensia. Piper talks about the expanding Magical Corps and talks about Lt. Robbins like we don't all know they're together. 

We don't mention Malexis or the author. We'll have to deal with that tonight when we go after Malexis and take him down. 

Grace, in a seat designed by a mother in the Middle Ring, which can be fastened to the seat of a carriage, sits next to Olivia. 

"She's just so perfect," says Olivia, looking lovingly at Grace.

"Perfect?" Riley sneers. "She's an abomination."

I look to her, shocked. 

"How can you say that?" I ask her. 

"Look at that thing," says Riley, rising so she's standing on her knees. "Born out of magic. It's unnatural. You think the people will accept her as their princess? They barely accepted having gay kings."

I'm scared because I feel she's right. When Milo and I first got engaged, we had citizens protesting outside the gates of the Grand Palace. Will our citizens feel the same about Grace?

"She's right," says Olivia. "Disgusting thing. I should never have allowed it to grow inside me."

"We'll fix the mistake," says Oswald, pulling out his sword. 

"No!" I shout, rising up to stand. 

"I'll do it," says Riley. 

I whip my head back in time to see her send an arrow into Grace's skull.

*Milo*

Aaron screams, scrambling over to Grace. 

"Get out of my way!" he yells at Olivia, startling her. He clutches the side of Grace's carriage seat, his anger and tears causing Grace to cry. I move to him and grip him by the shoulder. 

"Aaron, what's wrong?" I ask. 

"She killed her," he says. "She killed our daughter."

"No, she's fine," I say, putting my hand under his chin. "Look."

He shakes his head, his eyes shut tight until I force him to look. His face registers nothing but pure disbelief when he looks at Grace, whose face is red as she cries. 

I place my hand on Grace's chest and whisper an incantation, putting her into a gentle sleep. 

"Oh, sure," says Exavier. "Flex your magic. That's all you're good for now."

I turn to him. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," says Exavier. "You're pathetic. If you hadn't met Aaron, you'd be nothing but an orphan. If you hadn't met Piper, you wouldn't have realized you have magic. You're weak. You're nothing."

My anger flares up and I feel electricity crackle along my finger tips. 

"Say one more thing, Exavier, I dare you."

"You couldn't rule Midoor without Aaron by your side. Riley has done more for Midoor than either of you combined. You stayed with Aaron after he cheated on you and you're raising his bastard son. And you know why? Because you know you're pathetic."

Is he right? No, I don't think so. I'm not pathetic. Rage builds inside me and I raise my hand, sending a bolt of lightning straight at Exavier's heart. 

*Piper*

Piper reacts as she feels the magic build around Milo. With a shouted incantation to protect herself, she moves forward, pushing Milo's hand up toward the sky. The bolt of lightning curls into the sky, harming nothing but the clouds. 

Milo's face clears and he seems to come to himself. 

"What just happened?" he asks. 

"Y-your Majesty?" asks Exavier, looking scared and betrayed. "You just tried to kill me?"

"I'm sorry, but the things you were saying to me…it's not okay, Exavier."

"He wasn't saying anything," says Aaron. 

"What did he say to you?" Piper asks Milo. 

"Oh, sure," says Riley. "Let's all listen to the girl who couldn't even see her own sister was evil. All of this was your fault. If you'd only seen what she was sooner, we wouldn't be in this position. Maybe she'd be alive. Malexis might have ripped out her heart, but you're the one who abandoned her."

"Stop!" says Piper, covering her ears as tears well up in her eyes. 

"It's your fault," everyone but Milo and Aaron chwnt. Her hands do nothing to block the sound of their voices. "It's all your fault. It's all your fault. It's all your fault."

Piper falls to her knees, tears gushing from her eyes. She feels hands on her as the chanting becomes louder and louder. 

She incants, throwing her arms out to either side. 

When she opens her eyes, she sees everyone, including the children, spread out around her. Grace is still asleep, her carriage seat clutched in Olivia's arms. Theo, Benji, and Bri cry. 

"What the hell is the wrong with the three of you?!" Riley asks Milo, Aaron, and Piper. 

"Malexis must have done something to us," says Milo. He turns to Exavier. "All of you need to leave. Escort them back to the palace. This thing is obviously only affecting Aaron, Piper, and myself."

"You really want to be left alone with her?" asks Riley, sneering at Piper. "She's a traitor."

"You didn't really say that, did you?" Piper asks. Riley opens her mouth to say something else but Milo steps between them.

"Everyone else leave. Now."

*Milo*

"That pulse of energy Malexis sent at us," says Piper when everyone but Aaron, herself, and myself have retreated into the palace. 

"But what did it do exactly?" I ask. 

"It made me hear Riley and Olivia call Grace an abomination. It made me really scared. Then, Riley shot Grace with an arrow," says Aaron. 

"Everyone told me this was my fault. That I should have realized who Phoebe really was. That she might be alive if it wasn't for me. It made me really sad."

"I was really angry because Exavier was saying I was worthless. That I was pathetic, nothing," I say.

"Our emotions," says Piper. "Aaron, you're one of the bravest people I know, but it made you scared. Milo, you're not quick to anger, but it made you angry."

"And even after everything you've been through," I say, "you're not sad. But why would Malexis do this? What's the point?"

*Malexis*

"So that's how it's done," says Malexis, looking up toward the ceiling. "Does it scare you, Author? That I figured out how to tamper with the last of your control over your story? Until now, I couldn't change the perspective. Now—"

*Aaron*

"He's just trying to distract us," I say. 

"Or maybe it's something to do with the author," says Piper. "If Malexis is trying to prevent us from going after him, maybe he's trying to keep the author focused on us and—”

*Malexis*

"No!" Malexis shouts, grunting with the effort of holding back the author while shifting the story's perspective to himself. "I won't let you stop me…from talking to the readers. I know what you're afraid of. That they'll side with you but they won't.

"Readers, think about what he's done! He's messed with innocent lives. You should be siding with me. When I enter your world, I can use my magic to elevate your society. I will share my magic with you.

"Tell the author—”

*Piper*

"I think it's more likely something to do with the author," says Piper. "I know what this spell is. It targets our weakest emotions, the ones we rarely experience. It magnifies them and causes anyone not affected by the curse to comment on them."

"How are we supposed to walk up to meet Malexis with an army if nobody can be around us?" asks Aaron. 

"That's the thing. The spell is very easy to reverse. Milo and I can do it within the hour."

"Let's go up to your room in the Imperial Palace, Piper," says Milo. 

"Yeah, I have everything there. It wont—”

*Malexis* 

Malexis screams at the ceiling of his cave, a gutteral storm of anger. He's realized he can only hold the story's perspective on him for a short time. He doesn't have the power to block the author from that ability indefinitely. 

"Tell the author to stop trying to hold me back. I could be your god! Imagine what I could do for your people. Poverty, sickness, famine, I could erase them all! I can turn your world…into…a…utopia!

"Do it! Tell the author you want me to win. If he does…I'll even…spare his life…"

*Riley*

Bri got over Piper’s attack on them fairly easily. She regularly gets bored and moves on to other things. Benji, however, is a drama prince. Though he sustained no injuries whatsoever, he insists a spot on his arm hurts, pointing to a patch of dirt, but refusing to let anyone wipe it away.

Theo, on the other hand, acts like a brave little knight, stoic in his turn, though Riley knew he was secretly scared. He wouldn’t leave his grandmother’s arms.

Queen Elaine paced around, Theo in her arms, singing a song in Old Midoorian. Having studied the language, Riley knew the song was about a brave knight who was treated differently from the rest because he was so short. 

The tension in the air was palpable. Nobody held Aaron, Milo, and Piper’s actions against them. It was clear they were under some kind of spell or curse.

“Kilter,” says Riley, turning to her sworn protector, “can you—”

 

Riley stands in a part of the Crown Wood she doesn’t know. To her left, Aaron and Milo stand. Aaron has a slash across his face. Milo is dirty and ragged-looking, half of his shirt burned away with a shiny bright pink burn on his side. To her right stands Piper, holding a hand over one eye, blood running down her fingers.

An evil laughter erupts all around her.

There’s a strong pulse of energy and a blinding flash of light.

“He’s splitting the veil!” yells Milo, his voice barely audible over the rushing of wind.

Riley tries to see what he sees, but the light is too bright.

“Finally!” Malexis yells in triumph. 

“Is that…is that the author?” asks Aaron.

“We’ve lost!” yells Piper. “After all this, we fucking lost!”

 

Riley starts shaking in the aftermath of the vision. The idea that they’ll lose to Malexis overtakes her. 

“Honey,” says Queen Elaine, stepping forward. “What is it?”

“It was a vision of—” Riley hesitates for a moment, all eyes on her. Can she tell them about her vision? Can she really tell them they’re going to end up injured, bloody and burned, and still fail? No. They have to fight Malexis. They have to try. No matter what. “A bad accident in one of the new powerplants. We’ll have to rethink the designs. I’ll talk to Cara and make the necessary arrangements.”

Queen Elaine smiles and wraps an arm around her daughter.

“You’re an excellent queen,” she says, looking into her mother’s eyes. And in that moment, Riley knows her mother doesn’t believe the lie. Whether she knows the truth of the vision or not, she knows it wasn’t about a powerplant. 

Riley gives her mother a smile and a nod.

“Thank you, Mother.”

“Mommy, my arm still hurts!” Benji says, holding out his dirt-caked hand.

Lt. Robbins steps forward and bends down to Benji.

“I can use magic to fix your arm, my prince, if you would like.”

Benji nods and rubs his arm. Riley knows his isn’t using magic. His voice isn’t echoing and crashing when practitioners incant. Benji, though, doesn’t realize he’s just wiping the dirt from his skin. When Robbins moves his hand and Benji’s arm is clean, Benji takes a deep breath.

“Better?” asks Robbins. Benji gives him a nod.

*Aaron*

Night has fallen. It’s time to take the fight to Malexis.

Milo and I apologize to everyone for the way we reacted while under Malexis’s curse, though they all assure us they don’t need our apologies. 

We say goodbye to Olivia and hug Theo and Grace as though we’ll never see them again, though we use a gentler hug on Grace.

Riley says goodbye to Gavin, Bri, and Benji. None of them say so, but I know they don’t want her to leave. 

Piper gives a formal goodbye to Lt. Robbins until Gavin informs them we know they’re together, then they just peck each other on the lips. Robbins wanted to come, but somebody needed to lead the assault on Malexis if he defeated us and for some reason left the Crown Wood, though we know what nobody else does: if Malexis defeats us tonight, he’ll enter the author’s world. He’ll destroy us all.

It’s very unlikely we’ll all come away from this battle alive. I’m nervous for Milo and my sister. I’m nervous for Oswald, Exavier, and Kilter. I’m nervous for Delgara and Allandra and Rija. Well, less Rija than the rest, but he is leading his Krishan into battle while Allandra has had a group of Jika sent up.

Only the Midoorian forces will be penetrating into the heart of the wood, where the nexus lies. The Jika and Krishan are backup forces, who will remain in the woods just in case. 

The spot where the light nexus is isn’t far from the Grand Palace. Less than a ten minute march, in fact. Our forces surround the spot. I can feel the tension in the air. It hangs between the trees like spiderwebs as we move through the darkness. 

All in this wood is silent except the soft padding of our feet on the grass of the woods. Every once in a while, I hear a twig snap, but I don’t react. We have over three hundred soldiers, half of them magical practitioners, walking through these woods. 

Milo and I lead the charge with Riley and Piper. The Sword of All is clutched tightly in my right hand, a bow and sheath of arrows strung across my back. Riley holds a golden bow which has enchants arrows strung inside it, giving it the power to send the arrow straight through the trunk of a tree; a gift from Milo to her. Though Milo and Piper don’t hold any weapons, I know their magic will prove invaluable during this fight.

We hear a flurry of movement and I raise my closed fist, halting our section of the invasion. I hear the slight stretch of the leather under Oswald’s armor as he whips his head back and forth behind me, looking for an attacker. Exavier on his left and Kilter on his right seem motionless.

Then, six foxes come trotting out of the woods. Their fur red, with black patches. They freeze when they see us, fear in their eyes. They slowly start to move toward us.

“They must be running from Malexis,” says Milo. “Animals can sense magic, even if they can’t use it.” He takes a step forward.

“Your Majesty,” Exavier warns.

“It’s okay,” Milo says to the foxes. “We won’t hurt you.”

The fox looks up at Milo as if it can understand his words. It opens its mouth in a yawn and a jet of fire erupts from its throat, spraying Milo’s right side. 

Milo’s scream is like a trigger for the rest of the foxes who spring into formation and, together, start shooting jets of fire.

Piper incants, stepping in front of Riley as other practitioners run up to join them. Nobody steps in front of me, but I step in front of Milo and whirl the Sword of All through the fire, absorbing the jets from four of the foxes into the blade. I turn the sword so the sharp edge is facing up and down, squeeze the handle, and slash the sword. A thick rope of fire comes gushing from the sword. 

Though they can spit fire themselves, it’s clear they’re not immune to it. The smell of cooking meat and burning hair fills the space between the trees. Piper saw what I did and uses her own magic to destroy the rest of the foxes.

I turn to see Milo being pulled to his feet by Exavier. Nearly half of his shirt has been burned away. The skin beneath is blistered and bright red.

“Are you okay?” I ask him, putting my hands to his face. “We’ll get you healed up.”

“No,” he says. He touches his side gently and the red fades, turning pink, the blisters vanishing. “We have to conserve our magic. I’ll fix it the rest of the way when we’ve taken down Malexis.”

I nod, but my resolve is weakening. Malexis is clearly using some of Phoebe’s old beasts. Who knows what else we’ll find in here.

Turns out we find a lot. Snakes that replicate themselves when they’re cut. Kittens who scurry up trees like lizards, with tongues as long as frogs, but razor-sharp. Acid spitting spiders the size of small children. Each battle is brutal, but we finally make it to the clearing.

Malexis stands on a natural bridge that connects two sides of a small stream. His hands are in the air, palms splayed open as if to give the sky a hug.

“I should have known you’d make it here,” he says, his eyes trained on us. He looks at how we breathe heavily, at the injury on Milo’s side. “Too bad you’re still going to—”

An arrow, shot by Riley, plants itself firmly in Malexi’s neck. Dark black blood gushes from the spot, but he barely seems to notice. The arrow slides from his neck, sideways, as if the flesh has become liquid, and falls to the ground with a clatter.

“Foolish,” he says in a bored voice. “You can’t have expected that to do anything.”

Without a warning, a dark tendril of shadow shoots from Malexis’s form and springs forward, heading straight for Milo. It’s too quick for anyone to react to, but Piper throws herself in front of him, incanting as she does so. A shield of white magic springs up before her, but not soon enough.

The tendril of shadow shoots right into her face, burying itself in her eye. 

“Piper!” Milo shouts. I move around her and slice the tendril with the Sword of All, hoping beyond hope Piper isn’t dead.

When I turn to face her, I see she’s alive, though she’s cupping her right eye in her hand. Blood gushes between her fingers, running down her arm.

“Let me see it!” Milo shouts at her, trying to pull her arm away.

When she does, we see a gaping hole where her eye used to be. Lines of black line the folds of torn skin in the socket. Maybe it’s something I’ve picked up over the years, but I know her eye can’t be regrown. Not when it’s been cursed that badly.

Piper’s shield falters and fails, but it doesn’t matter. Malexis is once again focused on the heavens. I look down at my watch, a marvelous thing which has only been around for a year or two, and am its beauty momentarily distracts me. 

We’ve lost at least a hundred soldiers already. Piper has lost an eye. Milo is badly burnt. Something as beautiful as this watch shouldn’t exist in a world so ugly. 

“How much longer…do we have…until the alignment?” Piper asks through gritted teeth.

“Two minutes,” I say, knowing how impossible it sounds that we’ll defeat Malexis, but we don’t have a choice.

We all push through our emotions and our pain and start running toward Malexis, Oswald, Exavier, and Kilter behind us.

I don’t see the tendril of shadow whipping through the air until it’s too late. It lashes across my face, burning like a red-hot whip. I stumble but don’t fall then look up to see one of the tendrils heading straight for me. I’m too dazed from the lash across my face to do anything. Piper’s vision is probably compromised from her eye. Milo is groaning in pain, driven to distraction by his burn. Riley screams as a second tendril comes at her.

Nobody realizes I’m in danger. Nobody realizes I’m about to die. 

Except him.

There’s a flurry of movement, a flash of moonlight on armor, and I’m suddenly looking into Oswald’s eyes. Together, we look down at the tendril of shadow protruding from his chest. He gives me a weak smile as a trickle of blood runs down his chin. Then he’s whipped away by the tendril and sent flying into the woods behind Malexis.

*Milo*

The world has stopped. Oswald is dead. Oswald, who’s defended Aaron and me time and time again. Oswald, who knew our secret before anyone else. Oswald, our guard, our savior, our friend.

The pain that tears through me can’t be equal to Aaron’s, but it’s incredible to me that the fighting hasn’t stopped. That when someone with as beautiful of a soul as Oswald has died, we don’t just throw down our arms, go home, and grieve the loss the world has sustained.

It’s Malexis’s laughter that pulls me back to myself. An evil and vile thing, cruel in a revel of misery.

A pulse of energy erupts over the clearing before a blinding flash of light.

“He’s splitting the veil!” I yell, though we can see nothing. I’m not even sure if anyone heard me over the wind roaring around us.

“Finally!” Malexis yells in triumph. 

As the light fades slightly, I see what looks like a hole in the middle of the air, the edges frayed like ripped paper. Though it’s nighttime here, it must be daytime in the author’s world. Sunlight spills through the hole, illuminating the grass.

“Is that…is that the author?” asks Aaron.

He’s right. There’s a man, not much older than Aaron and myself, sitting at a desk. Sunlight streams through a window behind him, illuminating his sandy blonde hair. His bright blue eyes are wide with terror as he gazes at each of us in turn.

There’s a strange device behind him on the desk. Like a silver book, though it’s open on its side. A bright, glowing rectangle takes up one half, while the other has rows of little buttons. Though he is not touching the device, I can see words forming on the bright rectangular part of the device, words that mimic my own thoughts.

“We’ve lost!” yells Piper. “After all this, we fucking lost!”

“You’re mine!” Malexis yells, but Piper had already reacted. Pulling out a transportation phial, she moves herself to in front of the rip in our world. With a well-timed incantation, she brings up a shield to protect the author from the shadow tendril sent his way by Malexis.

"How are we supposed to stop him?" asks Aaron, blood covering half his face. 

"His hearts!" yells the author. "You have to destroy his hearts!"

A quick flash of fear crosses Malexis’s face as I draw power of the nexus into me and mix it with my potential. With a thought, I unleash a swirling blade of white magic at him. He jumps to the side, but not far enough. The blade rips open a gash in his shirt and chest, splattering the ground with black blood and revealing a few hearts. 

One of Riley’s arrows lodges itself in Malexis’s chest. I don’t know how many she hit, but the one visible turns black and shrinks like a raisin as Malexis screams, though it isn’t his voice. It sounds like four people screaming at once. 

Aaron is right behind the arrow, the Sword of All slashing through Malexis. This time, half a dozen voices, young and old, join Malexis and I know what I’m hearing.

The voices of the people whose hearts he’s taken. They’re screaming as they die.

“Enough of this!” Malexis shouts, throwing his hands out wide, but he doesn’t have time to cast a spell before Aaron drives the Sword of All up through Malexis’s head from under his chin.

“Good!” the author shouts. “That won’t hold him for long, but maybe I can…” He trails off as he returns to the device and begins pressing the buttons quickly.

I feel the power of the nexus, pulsing like a heartbeat in the Earth. As if it were made just for me. I draw it into myself. All of it. The more I draw, the more I feel, the more I know.

It’s too much for me. 

It’s far, far too much.

Everything goes white.

*Aaron*

I rip the Sword of All from Malexis and take a step back. His eyes have rolled back into his head so nothing but white show. Already, the hole made by the sword is closing. I turn back to Milo and my breath catches.

Milo is made of pure, white energy. His hair, like glowing silver, floats as if he’s submerged in water. His feet hang down, toes pointed at the Earth as he hovers a few inches off the ground. 

But it’s the look on his face that stuns me the most. He looks removed from himself. Like his body is working, but there’s nothing in his head. His eyes droop slightly and his mouth hangs open a few centimeters.

“Malexis is coming back!” the author shouts. “He’s preventing me from changing the story!”

“No…” Malexis’s voice is disbelieving. I turn and look at him. He looks both awed and afraid at once. “He’s…ascended. He’s…a true paragon.”

Nobody sees the black tendril snaking around Piper until it’s thrown her away from the portal. The author starts, backing into his desk as Malexis runs for him.

Time seems to slow. Malexis is little more than a blur. As he runs, his skin sheds from his body until he’s a black shadow, still with a gash opening his chest. His eyes are pools of wicked red light as his jaw stretches, sure he’ll be triumphant, sure he’ll reach the portal.

But he doesn’t make it. A hundred thin strands of white so bright, they could be woven from the hairs of angels spring from Milo’s form and impale Malexis in his chest when he’s still several feet from the portal.

Malexis screams in agony as the white strands bore into him, as his chest begins to expand and bulge. A second later, there’s a sound like tearing leather and Malexis’s hearts—all of them—are pulled out of his body.

“Destroy them,” says Milo.

We obey.

Heart after heart is destroyed by Piper’s magic, Riley’s bow, my sword. When I get close, Malexis waves an arm at me in an almost pathetically weak way. I drop to avoid it and see the hearts are attached to Malexis’s inside by dark strands of muscle. I grip the handle of the Sword of All and swing up, severing the hearts from his body.

The screams emanating from the mass of hearts is thunderous, the soundwaves shaking the leaves on the trees around us. Malexis’s own scream is higher pitched than I’ve ever heard, as if he’s being tortured.

The white tendrils recede back into Milo’s form and he floats forward as Piper, Riley, and myself move to his side and look down at Malexis, standing on his knees. One final heart remains. A black-looking lump of coal, still beating, barely keeping him alive.

Without warning, Malexis throws his hands out, sending a wave of magic rippling throughout the clearing, throwing us backward.

“He still has magic after all that?” I yell out from where I landed. 

I look around for the Sword of All, but it’s nowhere to be found. What I do see stops me in my tracks. 

Malexis is standing now, breathing raggedly, but smiling, his hand wrapped around Riley’s throat.

“Give me the author,” he says weakly. “Give him to me and I’ll give you your sister.”

I don’t move. I can’t. He’s going to kill her and there’s nothing I can do about it.

*Riley*

The throat wrapped around Riley’s neck is strong, crushing her windpipe with extraordinary force. Even if Malexis was to let her go, she doubted she’d be able to breathe anyway. But that didn’t matter. Breathing, surviving, wasn’t the goal.

“Malexis,” she says, surprising herself when she can get the words out. He turns to her and though he has no true eyebrows, something in his face shifts as if he’s surprised.

But not as surprised as he is when Riley, who had caught the Sword of All as it flew through the air, plunges it deep into his heart.

Malexis screams as a torrent of energy, a black pillar of magic, swirling with white, bursts out of him and rockets into the heavens. He releases Riley, who grips the sword with both hands, shoving it deeper into him.

“Help me!” she croaks and finds Aaron on her right, Piper on her left, both pushing the Sword of All into Malexis. Something about his body or his magic is repelling the sword, trying to expel it from his body, and he’s winning.

“Move!” shouts Milo. 

They do, all three of them, and the sword flies from Malexis’s body. He lets out a chuckle of triumph before the sword, gripped by Milo’s white tendrils, plunges into his body again, driving him into the ground. The energy surrounding Milo pulses, brighter and brighter until, with a final burst, all of the energy of the nexus is blasted from him, driving Malexis into the ground.

The very earth shakes beneath their feet as Malexis screams, waves and waves of a tormented lament so loud, Riley feels as if her eardrums are about to burst.

Then, silence.

*Milo*

If Aaron wasn’t here to catch me, I would fall to my hands and knees. The incredible amount of energy it took to perform that final act, to use the power of the light nexus to rip Malexis apart, has left me weak.

Still, we move to the crater created by the blast and look down. 

Only a shell of Malexis, the Sword of All still stuck in his chest, remains. As we stare down at the husk that was once our greatest enemy, it crumbles into dust.

“We did it,” Riley says weakly. “We stopped him.”

As one, we turn to the portal or rip in the veil. To the author standing on the other side.

“I thought this would close when we defeated Malexis,” says Aaron.

“No, it’ll stay open until I close it from this side, I think,” says the author.

“You know,” I say, “we have to stop calling you ‘the author’. What’s your name?”

The author smiles. “You can call me Ottie.”

“That’s a strange name for a god,” says Riley.

“Oh, I’m no god,” says Ottie. “I’m just someone who likes to write interesting stories.”

I can feel my consciousness fading, but I have to ask Ottie something, and make him promise to fulfill his side of the bargain.

“Can you bring Oswald back?” I ask.

Aaron takes in a sharp breath.

“I don’t think I can,” he says, moving back to his device. He taps the buttons and though I don’t have an ounce of magic left in me at the moment, I can see the words as they form on his device.

Oswald steps from the woods, beaten up, but alive, smiling at us.

But though the words are on the page, nothing happens.

“Malexis killed him with the same power he used to curse the story,” says Ottie. “Anything he did with that power, I won’t be able to change. But I can do this.”

He goes back to tapping on his device. I feel my strength come back, the weakness ebbing from my body as though I’ve been resting for days. When I look down at my body, my clothes are mended and my burn is gone. I look at Aaron and see his face has closed up, though there’s a scar across it. Then I look to Piper. Her eye socket is still empty, but the wound looks years old.

“That is much better,” says Piper, though sadly.

“I’m sorry,” says Ottie, returning to the portal. “I wish I could do more.”

“You can,” I say. “We held up our end of the bargain. We got rid of Malexis, we saved your world. Now you—”

“I’ll write you the best goddamn ending I can possibly think of,” says Ottie, forestalling me. “I promise.”