Tomas and I stood there and watched my mother approach. Her pace was calm, as if she had all of the time in the world. And I suppose she did. I envied her confidence. A glance to the right showed me that Hazuzu was coming over to help me, to stand with Tom and me. This provided a measure of comfort, but only slightly. Charybdis was still causing the battle to rage below, a fact I could easily see for myself. I knew Hazuzu could portal, but that was all he could do aside from physical battle. Charybdis was a far too powerful opponent to take on with just those tools.

“Callie, can you cast magic?” Tom said, a squeaky whisper in my ear.

“My arm is broken,” I whispered back, not taking my eyes off of the casually approaching demon sorceress that called herself my mother. “I can’t use patterns.”

“Then don’t,” he whispered back. “But I have an idea.”

He shot me a look then slipped something into my hand behind our backs, out of the view of Charybdis. The cold metal in my hand gave me chills, and I discreetly shoved it into a convenient pocket.

“I trust you,” I said, imbuing the feeling into my words. Perhaps it was the first time I’d said those words and they were actually true.

He whispered his plan into my ear, his words ruffling the minute hairs and tickling me with his breath and urgent sentences. I suppressed a grin. Say what you want about Tom, and I’ve probably said worse to his face, but he sure was determined. There wasn’t anybody I’d rather be in a life or death situation with. I ignored the shooting pains in my arm, taking great care not to move it at all. I would have to trust in what Tom thought, that I didn’t need to use patterns at all. If not, I would have to cast through the pain, and hope that it was enough.

“Good to see you, darling husband,” Charybdis drawled to Hazuzu. “And who is this sidekick you’ve brought with you?”

I narrowed my eyes. Tom was the only person she could be speaking of, and it rubbed me the wrong way.

“That’s my best friend, Charybdis,” I spat, refusing to give her the honorific of mother.

“A pity,” she sighed. “If he gets in the way, his blood will be on your hands.”

“Take me on yourself. No monsters, no help. Just me, and you.”

She tilted her head, a small crooked smile on her lips. “Bold,” she said, impressed. “You got that from me.”

Hazuzu inhaled sharply, but ultimately ignored the insult. I stepped forward, away from the two of them. Though I was grateful they’d come, I almost wished they hadn’t. I’d come to care for them, but I didn’t want for them to get hurt because of me. I couldn’t ask that of anyone, let alone people I cared about.

“What a pleasant surprise!” she exclaimed; her attention suddenly drawn behind us.

We all turned around to see, perhaps stupidly.

Sage stood there, blood splattered on his robes, pale eyes narrowed at us, his white hair wild in the wind. He supported himself on a stray stick he must have picked up from the ground. “You go too far, Charybdis,” he said, electricity flickering in his voice. “Do you wish to reign over ashes?”

“Come with me, Sage,” she pleaded, her attention solely on him as she advanced forward. Her demeanor completely changed, now begging, as opposed to how she had been demanding before. “It can be like how it used to. I still love you,” she said, stepping forward delicately towards him. “I always have, and I always will.”

“Sage?” Hazuzu questioned, the confusion evident.

Sage permitted a brief glance towards his old friend. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “We were lovers long ago; I won’t deny it.” He looked down at the ground, steeling his resolve. “But there’s no time to discuss this, now.” His eyes locked on Charybdis. “I know your struggle. I’ve helped you throw off the chains once before, and over again. But you can’t kill people, Charybdis! Why couldn’t you just live your life, seek your own solitary happiness?”

“You would ask me to abandon my daughter to the enemies that destroyed me?” she growled, her fists clenching and unclenching as she spoke. “To leave those that had wronged me, trampled on my potential, to just roam free, without consequence? I accept my fate – on the condition that they accept theirs, too.” She twisted to glare at Hazuzu. “They must pay. You -” she pointed a slim finger at Hazuzu, accusing and threatening, “- you must pay.”

“Me? What about you?!” Hazuzu shouted, lunging at Charybdis.

She didn’t back down, instead bared her teeth, the gold in her braids glinting in the sunlight. “I owe you nothing.”

“You and Sage?” he yelled, ignoring her response. “Did he help you run away from me?”

Sage stepped back, unwilling to be in the spotlight and settling into the background. He had the right idea, I thought, getting away from in between these two.

“You should be angry that I had to!” she shouted back, the two of them now face to face, noses inches away. “And that I had to more than once. You couldn’t take the hint the first time that I didn’t want to be your wife? No, you had to send out your entire army to find me, just so I could come back to you to give you an heir!”

At that moment, a figure rose over the horizon of the hill, heavy breath through a thick armored helmet covering his face. Zaavi stood there, his black armor no longer shiny, but drenched in blood and mud. He tossed off his helmet, revealing hair unkempt and dirty. His sword, red to the hilt, dripped ominously onto the ground below. He looked as if he’d been fighting for his life – and I knew for a fact he had been. But why was he here?

“This is bullshit, Charybdis,” he said deliberately. “You can’t kill us.”

“Why not?” she said sweetly, turning her attention away from Hazuzu and now to Zaavi, leaving him seething as she tiptoed closer to the newest arrival. “I think it’s been going all to plan so far.”

“Why couldn’t you just leave me in that prison that fucking Hunter’s Guild you created stuffed me in?!” he spat.

Charybdis just laughed. “I didn’t form the Hunter’s Guild. Why would I put you in prison just to manipulate your release?”

“I formed the Hunter’s Guild,” Hazuzu admitted unabashedly. “I collected the mages at the time to put you down. I’m surprised that wasn’t your first thought, truthfully.”

“You always did like to have other people do your dirty work,” Zaavi said under his breath. “But it matters not, now.” He lifted his sword point to Charybdis’ throat, the blade humming and starting to glow as he filled it with power. “You are the enemy here.”

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This entire time, I’d been watching dumbfounded, Tomas not far from me, struck into silence from all of the secrets that had been unearthed right before our eyes. It was a lot to take in; but now was not the time for reflection. Charybdis was distracted by Zaavi and Hazuzu, who were now teaming together to advance on her. Her confidence was still clear in her stance, her hands firmly on her hips and a sly smile on her face. Her tattoos pulsated, flashed, and swirled just like the power she held within.

I inched closer.

“Let’s go, daughter,” Charybdis said, her eyes still on Hazuzu and Zaavi who held their weapons at the ready towards her. “Fight with me, defeat those who would oppress us, and we’ll rule this entire world together.”

“Like fuck I will,” I shouted. “I will fuck you up, hippie bitch.”

Her smile grew, her eyes flashing. “Yes, let’s.” With a sweep of her arm, Tom, Hazuzu, and Zaavi were all thrown to the ground. Another sweep, a flick of her fingers, and several new monsters shot out from the ground, just like the fire and ice creatures had done. She beckoned me to come closer, the creatures advancing on us.

I grit my teeth. Tom’s idea was a clever one, but I would have to get close. I advanced on her, and we circled, my back to the ocean cliff.

I would have to trust that they can take care of themselves, just like I knew they trusted in me. I cradled my injured arm, flipping up my shirt and tucking it within the fabric as a makeshift sling. Each step jarred the bones, but I ignored that sensation, too. We took more steps, still facing each other.

“Are you going to hit me, or not?” I said through a clenched jaw.

“I’d much rather see what you’re capable of,” she answered nonchalantly.

I inhaled. Fine – I would do what she wanted, for now. I closed my eyes for a moment, gathering focus like I had before to generate the shield. I couldn’t cast patterns, but maybe Tom was right. Maybe I didn’t need to. Just because Charybdis did, and Zaavi did his own version of it, didn’t mean that I had to. Magic is individual, and I knew I would have to find what worked for me or die trying. I took a step closer to Charybdis and willed for a swirling torrent of wind to whisk her up.

A faint breeze tickled her hair. She laughed. “I know you have more than that, come on now. Show me something,” she said, twisting her fingers in a gesture that dispelled the breeze I’d concocted.

Alright, so that didn’t work well for me. Maybe wind just wasn’t my specialty. It would take trial and error, but I would have to find something that was mine. I just wished I knew what that was.

Again, I focused, picturing and imagining what I wanted to happen. Then I opened my eyes and willed it to be. Shadows danced as the flames licked around in a circle surrounding her. They were stronger than the breeze I’d generated, but she waved them off with a lazy swish. The flames seceded into the ground, hot embers fizzling where they’d been.

“A touch better, but still, so mediocre,” Charybdis purred. “As my successor, you’re going to have to do much better than that.”

“What would you suggest?” I said, barely able to get out the words. It pained me to ask her for anything. But maybe she would be arrogant enough to answer.

“I’ll give you a tip,” she said cheerfully. “Don’t give your enemies an advantage.”

She thrust her palm forward, bent her fingers just so, and a telekinetic blast of energy shot out. I barely saw it in time, throwing up a haphazard shield almost as a subconscious thought. I didn’t draw a pattern, simply imagined it to be. And then it was. Her telekinetic shock pushed me back, sliding my feet in the dirt, but it didn’t knock me over. My muscles tensed, causing pain to shoot through my broken arm, but it definitely wasn’t as bad as it would have been if I’d been thrown to the ground.

She smiled widely at me, her bright smile belying the situation. “Better.”

Discreetly, I tried to imagine what I could try next. I willed my next move into fruition, pouring every ounce of effort into making this happen. I didn’t even know if it would work, but if I needed it to happen, if I made it possible, then nothing could stop me. I urged the shadows themselves to pull themselves forth, to become tangible. The darkness of the trees wiggled, freeing themselves from their tethers. The blackness oozed, like tar, over the grass, coming from every direction and surrounding Charybdis. I commanded the shadows, the darkness, the absence of light, to do my bidding. They swarmed up Charybdis’ legs, halting the motion of her fingers, choking her breath.

This was my opportunity. She was trapped, for however long I could hold the shadows. I ran at her, cradling my arm as best as I could, and as I advanced, I whipped out the shackles. She was only a few feet away. I lunged, the shackles outstretched, slamming them onto a wrist that the shadows held out for me.

Sweat dripped from my forehead but I wasn’t done yet. The shadows, holding her still at my command, started to melt away. The anti-demon magic shackles had made her magic ineffective, but because the magically powered shadows here touching her, they became ineffective as well. They fell away from her, harmless as simple absence of light. She tumbled to the ground unceremoniously, still shackled.

The monsters that had been fighting my friends froze, then disintegrated. Charybdis’ eyes raged, turning wild and angry. Her body practically hummed with choked energy, her rage practically a tangible thing simmering below the surface. The cliff was to her side, beckoning me. Hazuzu, who had been knocked onto the ground, carefully pulled himself to a stand, while Zaavi brushed off his shoulders, then approached us with a favoring limp. They’d survived, somehow.

Tomas, suddenly at my side, came to my assistance. Without telling him what I needed, he instinctively knew. Carefully, he grabbed Charybdis’ shoulder and began to lead her closer to the edge of the cliff. Sage, who had been watching from a safe distance, now approached the two of them with pity and regret in his eyes, accompanying Tom. The north wind bustled around him, protecting him as a gentle breeze. Hazuzu met up with them, sword extended, Zaavi following close behind with an offbeat pace.

Charybdis glared at all of us, held captive by the same handcuffs that had once choked me.

“I’ll always love you, too,” whispered Sage to Charybdis.

She closed her eyes at his admission and turned away, ignoring him.

“I’m sorry,” Sage insisted, his voice on the verge of tears.

Hazuzu stiffened at Sage’s words, and I couldn’t blame him. I tensed, worried that Hazuzu might lash out, the situation delicate enough already without being sabotaged. Charybdis was a force not to be reckoned with. When her heels scraped the rocks at the sheer cliff, I held up my uninjured hand, asking them to stop.

“Help me…,” I said, barely able to speak.

Hazuzu grabbed her shoulder from Tom, allowing him to step back, and held her still, his sword in his other hand at her throat. Zaavi and Tom surrounded her, also threatening her with their weapons. Sage retreated, standing down from the final push. I could see the fear in her eyes that were not unlike a caged animal. Pity welled within me. I couldn’t fault her for feeling the injustice she’d experienced; she deserved better than this. But that didn’t mean I had to let her kill everyone I cared about.

I stepped closer to the ocean cliff, knowing we only had seconds. I focused magic again, keeping my hands still, using only my will to form my intentions into reality. Below, the ocean swirled against rocks, crashing and bursting as waves against the cliff. I pushed my will into the current, demanding its path be changed. The random wave crashes and turbulence started to coalesce into one circular current, the vortices converging to one giant whirlpool at the base of the cliff. I carved that whirlpool as if it were clay, widening the eye until I could see the bottom of the ocean, a shipwreck revealed, muddy sea plants below it. I charged the ocean with a task; one it would keep until the oceans ran dry. The whirlpool may rage, but it would never open again, would swallow anything that entered it whole, and would never allow for its captor to escape. The walls of the waves promised an eternal prison.

The gate was open. I waved my hands, asking nonverbally that they let go of Charybdis, the chains of her handcuffs clinking, not unlike the distant clashing of swords and steel below us as the battle still raged on. I would end this myself.

I stepped forward; her anger palpable between us.

“Cease your revenge,” I said, my voice cold. “Promise never to rise against us. If you vow to live the rest of your days in exile, never interfering in the realms of demon or human ever again, I’ll allow you to leave, right now.”

“You think you’re so smart?” she barked back. “You bit – “

I kicked her over the edge.

Her last words were lost as screams as she fell into the whirlpool prison that I had built for her. As it encapsulated her body, I closed the whirlpool’s eye, covering her for eternity. The vortex raged, but below, was a furious demon sorceress. She’d never see the light of day again.

I collapsed.