When everyone who could possibly be saved had been removed from the tornado and sent across the ocean in makeshift rafts (and on the backs of aquatic reptiles), Claire and Owen climbed the turbulent wind and travelled towards Karen's lair, which was still constructing itself. It was now a spiked ball of debris, like a mace or a curled-up hedgehog. Claire's wings were trembling, partly because of the weather, and partly because of . . . everything else. Owen gave her the side-eye.
"Claire, are you sure you can do this?"
"I have to."
"No, you don't. If you want . . . If you need me to . . . I can go up there alone and . . . put an end to . . . I can stop this . . ."
Claire shook her head.
"No. I can't force you to murder someone, least of all my sister."
"You shouldn't have to kill her, either."
"I agree, but if it comes down to that, the world is my priority. I know what we have to do. It's gotta be one of us, but we're going up there together, regardless of who ends up doing it."
"What if we talk her out of-"
Claire laughed bitterly.
"Oh, Owen. Not this again. Look, we both know that she's not coming back to our side. She's going to- to die. We're going to have to kill her. She's made herself into the bad guy, which means it's up to us to stop her, traumatic as it may be."
"This is horrifying."
"Yes, I know."
"Why did she have to do this?"
"Well, she didn't have to. This was a choice. I'm furious that she'd do this to me, to you, to Gray, to the entire fucking world . . . but . . . You know. It happens."
"It happens too often."
After a pause, Owen tossed his head and snorted.
"Why is everyone out to get us?"
"They're out to get Elkay, mostly, but people like you and me . . . we get caught in the crossfire."
"Sometimes, I really hate that dragon."
". . . Okay, me too, but it's not her fault. None of this is anyone's fault. We're all doing our best, but bad things . . . they happen. It's unfortunate. That's all."
"I can't wait to see what bad thing happens next," he snuffed.
Claire exhaled.
"It's not fun to deal with this shit, Owen, but that's just the way it goes. What else can we do? Just sit by and let it happen?"
"No."
"Exactly."
"But I wish we could fix things for good."
"There's no way to magically solve every problem in the world. And there's no way to make a happy ending stick. New challenges will arise, and-"
Owen groaned.
"Yeah, I get it. Do what's right. Fight evil. Rinse. Repeat. It's-"
He grunted as he hit an invisible wall. Claire mooed in surprise and screeched to a halt. Slowly, Owen slid down the barrier with a deep squeak before peeling away and shaking his head.
"Well, that was unexpected."
Claire inched forward and batted the air with her front foot. She found the wall, which pulsed black at her touch. Owen joined her, making swirls with his toes.
"Now what?"
Suddenly, he shot forward as if he was being pulled by an invisible rope. He screamed, and Claire followed him by instinct, narrowly escaping the closing barrier that would have otherwise cut her in half. Before she could pursue Owen, she was yanked back by a yellow tail.
"Claire, stop!"
"Elkay, let me go! My hu-"
"It's a trap, you stupid cow! Don't you see that this is exactly what Karen wants?!"
"I'm not going to leave him!"
"You don't have to. Just don't go barging in without thinking things through, okay?"
She let her go, and Claire steadied herself, still aggravated.
"What do you propose we do, exactly?"
"Sneak through her off-brand force-shield and take her by surprise."
"Something tells me she won't be surprised . . ."
Elkay twisted her beak.
"Yeah, maybe not. She'll probably take advantage of our false sense of security."
"Do you have another plan?"
"Nothing that's guaranteed to work."
"Great. Just great."
Elkay crossed her arms.
"Well, if you're so smart, why don't you come up with a plan?"
"Because it's too late. Karen has the upper hand, and it'll be a miracle if any one of us makes it out of here alive."
Elkay chuckled.
"God, I wish I could die. Do you think she's allowed to kill me off?"
"Who's stopping her?"
Elkay blinked.
"No one? . . ."
"So you could die."
"That's the spirit! Let's go!"
And without another word, she charged towards the promise of death.
***TSFEW***
When she entered the room in the center of the palace (using the term loosely, of course), Claire was puzzled by a strange and intricate design on the floor. It was a reddish spray-patch that stained the marble (and how did Karen manage to get marble?!), like some kind of painted-on carpet. It seemed to be laid out randomly, with about as much symmetry as a wine puddle. Perhaps it was a spill of some kind. As Claire drew near, she realized that this was most likely the case.
It smelled of blood.
She sidestepped the red spray, trying not to choke or vomit, vaguely wondering whether the puddle had once been Alan, or if there was another murder to add to Karen's rapidly-growing list. Her sister was sitting on a collection of rocks, which was loosely arranged into a throne. Beside her was a ramshackle cage made of iron claws, hanging from a chain that led to a post wedged between two stones. Sitting inside the shoddy prison was a very jerboa-shaped Owen.
"Nice of you to visit, Claire. Just a few housekeeping notes: all exits have been blocked, and if you try to harm me in any way, I'll turn this flea-bitten rodent into a stain on the wall."
"I'm not flea-bitten," Owen muttered.
Claire gazed at his diminutive figure. This was obviously a power move on Karen's part. Aside from the emotional significance of the chosen spell, it was a warning that she could do as she pleased, that Claire was one wrong move away from watching her husband erupt into a bloody mess, albeit a small one. In other word, she had lost.
"Just kill her, Claire," Owen whispered, "Don't worry about me."
Karen kicked his cage. Owen clung to the bars as the structure swung back and forth violently.
"Can you bear to watch him die, Claire? I promise, I'll make it as painful as possible," Karen teased.
"You have The Star. Blast her head off," Owen insisted.
Karen grabbed the cage in one hand and shook it.
"Don't be stupid. I'll kill you in a microsecond. Besides, I'm her sister."
Owen nipped her finger. She pinned him to the wall with magic, and he started screeching in pain.
"I never liked you. I won't be sorry to see you die."
"Karen, please . . ." Claire gulped.
Owen thrashed around.
"Did you feel anything when you killed Gray? Did you enjoy killing your favorite son?"
He fell silent as Karen pushed him further against the metal. He was barely able to breathe, never mind scream.
"Tell this rat to keep quiet, Claire, or I'll kill him before you have the chance to provoke me."
". . . Shouldn't take much. You're kind of a bitch," Owen choked.
He dropped to the bottom of the cage suddenly.
"I'm not foolish enough to kill you before using you as a bargaining tool," Karen said breezily, "Though I'd certainly enjoy it, don't get me wrong . . ."
Claire lifted her head.
"So you're willing to negotiate?"
Karen smiled.
"Let me put it this way: you're defeated no matter what you choose, but how much more death comes from this is up to you."
"Oh."
Claire began to mull over her limited options, hoping to find the best method of de-escalating the conflict, but at that precise moment, Elkay burst through the side wall, axe in hand, screaming at the top of her lungs.
"A-A-AMBU-U-USH!"
Before reaching Karen, she tripped over a folded carpet and took a dramatic plunge, dropping her weapon.
"Oops."
Karen turned back to Claire.
"The hard way it is, then."
