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“Let them go.”
“As you say.” With a wave of his shadowed hand, echoes of movement came from behind him: the crows scattered, and the trees shifted away. The path formed beneath them, leading down and out of the forest. The creature sniffed at Killian’s palm, licking it with a snake-like forked tongue. It sneered. “You’re weak.”
Killian swallowed. “Yes.”
“You have failed.”
Killian’s breath faltered, and he lowered his gaze to the bottom of the thing’s jaw. “I have.”
“Are you enough?” it sneered, its lip curling in a swirl of purple smoke. Killian knew that the monster meant enough payment, but the question triggered the memory of Phineas’s words and begged a deeper answer, a truer response. Despite every failing and stumbling, was he enough? Could he be enough just as he was?
Killian saw himself reflected in the monster, but felt within himself the lessons, the character and the man he was and wanted to be. He wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t flawless. But Killian could finally see himself as he was. Not per his father, or his court. But as a man.
Squaring up his feet, and with one last glance toward his companions, Killian met the monster’s harsh gaze. “I am.” He took a deep breath. “I am the son of my father, a prince who would do anything for my friends and for my kingdom. I am learning, and I am imperfect, but I will not give up.” He thought of Raela and how he had loved her. Something cracked within his chest. He stood taller. “I am enough.”
The monster cackled in mockery, but his laughter faltered and caught, shifting to halting, painful breaths. It looked to their grasped hands. “What are you doing?” It tried to pull away, but its grip was seized tight in Killian’s who couldn’t release him. Between their palms and around their fingers, tiny beams of light pierced outward until Killian’s entire hand glowed bright white. The light traced up to his chest before surging through his entire body.
“What have you done?” the monster shrieked. “Stop! I shall release you all! Let go!”
But Killian could not. He would not. It was time to end the monster. He gripped harder.
Inside the arm of the monster, cracks of light fractured the shadows, moving slowly before settling in its chest—a heart of light. The light split through the monster, who hardened and cracked like dry earth, the slits of light beaming out from within.
Meshougi stepped beside Killian and set her hand on his arm, glaring hard at the monster. “Light will always overcome darkness. Truth will always overcome lies. Love will always win.” She looked toward Killian’s face with beaming affection. “Finish it. I am proud of you.”
With a surge from his chest, warmth flooded outward, down his arm and into the beast. The light intensified, until all at once, with a screech, the light and darkness exploded.
Though the darkness hit the circle of light that surrounded Killian and his companions like rain on glass, it couldn’t penetrate it. The darkness dissipated into dust. The breeze swept through, the clouds parted, and the trees dispersed. The gentle green forest around them was filled with the smell of sunny meadows and sounded like songbirds at dawn.
Killian could finally see clearly.
Chapter 20
Revelations
Killian
Killiancollapsedonthegrass next to Phineas who had rolled onto his back. Jax landed with a thump as motes of dust whooshed up into the filtered sunlight. The horrors had gone, but each one of them struggled to grasp this reality after experiencing the lies of the nightmare. Killian threaded his fingers through the grass, marveling at the power of magic—they were no longer on the Spires. He recognized these trees. They were back in the Forbidden Forest. The snow, the sickly mushrooms, and the smell of rot had all vanished. Beside him, the beam of light pulsed a merry tune, hopping between each member of the collapsed crew like a puppy looking for pats.
The old woman sat gingerly, her swirl of blankets about her and her face in her hands. “Well, that was rougher than it appeared it would be.” She rubbed her eyes. “Turns out, knowing ahead of time isn’t always helpful for relieving the pain of the experience. And even knowing that didn’t aid as much as I might have wished.”
You couldn’t have warned us?Jax asked with a raised brow.
“No. I could not. To manipulate the future outcome—that would have changed the inherent magic of what Killian did.”
Killian frowned. “And what exactly did I do?”
“You saw and spoke the truth about yourself. You loved your friend more than you loved yourself. You saw yourself as you are and accepted the true version of yourself. You called the light to unveil the darkness, the lies, and the evil.” Her face pulled into its toothless turtle smile. “You did so much, it’s a shame that the whole curse doesn’t end right here.” She chuckled and then lay back with a whoosh in a deep sigh of contentment. “Seeing myself in this meadow, however … This is much better in person.” Her tiny arms and legs stuck out of her brown garment like sticks in a ball of mud, and Killian held back his relieved laughter.
Phineas rolled to his knees and straightened up. His shoulders shuddered, like he was shaking off the last of the visions. He looked hard at Killian before he whacked his shoulder with the back of his hand. “You self-sacrificing idiot.”
Killian shoved his shoulder back, halfheartedly. “You would have done it for me.”
Phineas nodded. “I tried to do it for you.”
Phineas smiled, but Killian’s heart beat with a pang. “I couldn’t let you. You’ve been the best friend I could have ever asked for. You’ve loved me by speaking truth my whole life. I was stupid then.” Killian shook his head. “But going to the beast was the least stupid thing I’ve ever done.”
Jax rolled over and plopped his head in Killian’s lap.I am glad you’re not dead. Again.
