"Is everyone ready?". My gaze traveled to the mini army behind me. Each witch and bear stood proudly, though some looked more roughed up than others.
The youngest among us was having a bit of difficulty breathing. Gus's eye injury and the mold that had gathered in his lungs visibly bothered him. Boscha also looked pained.
She was slightly hunched over; her back being attacked by the two large wounds on it. Yet neither of them would let that stop them. They were both determined to play their role in the final battle.
The rest of my fellow hexolios were also getting sick and all the death surrounding them had worn them down. But that didn't take away their spirit. They've all been patiently waiting for this moment since our field trip started.
The two bears, Amiyah and Skara, craved their freedom like a starved wild animal craved food. Though they didn't remember their entire stay at the hotel of death, they still felt every bit of misery caused by it. Their lives had been stripped from them in more ways than one, and now they were going to fight for what little life they had left, possibly leading them to yet another death.
And me? There was only so much of all this I could take before I shattered completely. If this plan failed, it would be the death of me.
"We're more than ready, Luz" Willow roused. "It's time to stop all this once and for all".
"Call me by my codename" I groaned with a roll of my eyes. "We have them for a reason".
"And what reason is that?" Boscha scoffed from the back of the group. When all I did was glare at her, the bully added, "What reason is that, Luzura?".
"Good question, Mega Bitch".
"I didn't agree to that name".
"Yet that's what everyone's calling you".
"It really does suit you, Mega Bitch" Amiyah laughed beside me.
"What's with the codenames?!" the triclops spat as her patience snapped.
"Well… I just think they're cool" I responded snippily. "Any other questions?".
"Are you sure we have to be in wave one?" Skyler asked unsurely. "I know we have magic too, but we barely know how to use it".
"Sky…er…Number 44 is right" the other artificial human piped in. "We're inexperienced".
"You're inexperienced with glyphs" I corrected. "But all your dueling classes and grudgby practices, all that's still inside you. You're both still great fighters".
"Besides," Boscha added. She tried her hardest to hide her sneer while addressing her old friend. "You two don't have to worry about death. You've already done that before".
"Doesn't mean we want to do it again". As she took a moment to swallow the lump of fear in her throat the word death brought, I slightly nudged my girlfriend (you don't know how good it feels to be able to call her that again!). She was instantly calmed by my small reminder I was there.
"All we need to do is hold him back long enough for Odalia and the others to get the rest of the bears out". Having to say the horrid hags name made me shuttered, but I truly believed Amiyah's mother could pull this off. She may have been the wicked witch of the west re-incarnated, but she was not one to mess around.
Her job was to finish what we all had been doing for the past couple months, break the bear's connection with their puppets as much as possible. But this time, the bears would then use their ghostly powers to possess the puppets themselves. If all things went right, they'd be able to flee the building with their body, and hopefully without the amnesia caused by them.
Eda, Lilith, and Alador were all with her too. They would be able to keep the evil businesswitch in line…hopefully. Since Eda and Lilith lost all their power except for glyphs, Odalia had the upper hand magic wise. But it would be three against one and Alador still had his magic. He was supposedly one of the best witches in the abomination coven. Surely, he could stop his wife if she were to evilly turn on all of us.
She probably wouldn't, since she wanted her kids out of this damn hotel just as much as we all did, but you never knew with that woman.
In the meanwhile, my mother would be helping Emira escape. The sickly Blight had grown a lot more mobile since she had befriended Dusty, but her body was still fragile. Mom needed to make sure that head wound stayed clean and closed.
"Alright, 44 and Mighty Mittens you're with me. One-eye–".
"I thought you didn't want to be called One-eye?". Gus simply shrugged at Boscha muttering.
"I'm owning it now".
"Like I was saying before Mega Bitch rudely interrupted me, One-eye and Narrowleaf–".
"It's a type of willow tree" the shorter witchling explained while shrugging her broad shoulders.
"-You'll be in the wings until I give the signal". I raised my fist into the air as a demonstration. "Then you'll move in behind him, so he has nowhere to run. Hopefully he goes down easily, but if he doesn't then Mega Bitch, Bow and Arrow, and Wild Cat will all attack from the shadows. Everyone got that?".
"Yeah, yeah. We all know the plan" Boscha gnarled before anyone else could speak up. "Now let's get this over with".
"Right!" I yowled while puffing my chest out and raising my chin high. "Let's end this!".
For what was hopefully the last time, we descended down into the basement. We didn't keep our footsteps light. We wanted the killer to know we were there, that we were all coming. Unlike Odalia and the rest of Team B, we wanted his attention all on us.
Though, despite our loud marching, our enemy didn't notice me and the two bears until we were right behind him. From a work bench full of his many murder weapons, the hotel owner turned to face us. It took a moment for his brain to register what he was seeing, but he soon spoke.
"What are they doing down here? This area isn't safe for them".
Before she could holler out in protest, I stopped Amiyah with a glance. We had to choose our words wisely. What I said next would be the very beginning of our vicious battle for freedom. It had to be something inspiring and epic.
"It's not safe for you down here either!" I roared, internally celebrating quite the dramatic delivery. "We've come to take back the many precious things you've stolen from us!".
"Stolen" he repeated as he mulled over my words. His face then suddenly dropped, his pale wrinkled skin growing pallor in stupor. "Luz…The young Blight boy spoke of a rising rebellion, but…you… you can't be a part of it, surely".
After all the times I told him my thoughts on the whole ordeal over the phone, after I had attacked him, even after he watched me mourn over my girlfriend's dead body, TWICE, he still thought I was on his side. His powerful heartbreak made it seem as if I was the only person he ever trusted. It nearly brought him to his knees.
"This doesn't have to get violent" I cautioned, the look in his anguished eyes striking me with sudden pity. "All you need to do is let us all go and forget this ever happened".
"Luz". The hotel owner's voice was now just a low, guttural growl. "You've got to be the most spirited kid I've ever met. I guess that turned into your greatest weakness".
"So what? Would you prefer I ideally sit by while innocent witches get slaughtered like you did?". That pulled a holler from his throat.
"You weren't there, Luz! You shouldn't even know about what happened!". He then tried to let his fury out with a sigh. He only stifled his rage for a moment. "It seems as if my wife is a traitor too".
"She isn't the one who told me" I corrected. "And I didn't have to be there to know you became that murder's assistant! You helped him kill instead of fighting back! You became his friend!".
"You don't think I tried fighting back! Whoever told you about Hugh didn't tell you of our failed escape attempt! That guardsman was right in front of us, but he stopped me before I could call out. Then he made me cut open my own little brother as punishment!".
"Then why did you suddenly start idolizing him?!" I gnarled incredulously as my growing sympathy intertwined with my grief-fueled rage. "You're doing the exact same thing he did, killing children you've trapped in this hellhole against their will".
"I'm nothing like him! He killed simply in the name of discovery! But I learned a very important lesson from all his killing!".
"And what's that?".
"You can make good from death. That's what I'm doing. By killing them, I've made sure these "bears" will never be hurt again, at least not for real".
"You must be joking!". Amiyah couldn't hold in her fury for any longer, the killer's last sentence cutting a nerve. "Our bodies may not be real, but all the pain you put us through is! Every cut or bit of poison, we feel all that!".
"But we're done being your victims!" Skyler added in with a snarl. "We're busting out of this place!".
"I'll give you one last chance, Mortimer". The tone of my voice darkened like storm clouds. "Let. Us. Go".
"Until you learn to appreciate what I've created, you won't be taking one step out of this building".
"Fine. Then we'll do this the hard way". I raised my fist high into the air. From deep within the shadows, Willow and Gus crept up behind the hotel owner. Each had their arms at the ready, eagerly waiting for the moment they'd draw the first spell circles.
Amiyah and Skyler pulled out handfuls of pre-drawn glyphs and held them like a bunch of playing cards. I grabbed a few of my own as well while internally planning out my first move. We didn't exactly know what kind of potions the killer had on him, or what spells he knew. We had to disable him, bind him down before he got the chance to throw his first punch.
"Hexide!" I cried as I moved a plant glyph to the front of my deck. "Attack!".
Willow and Gus were the first to act. While the latter made brambles burst out of the basement floor the latter sent a swarm of bugs into the killer's face. Though they were just illusions, they were enough to take away the older witch's sight. Now blinded, he ungracefully stumbled around, trying to keep his footing. The branches shattered underneath him, but the thorns latched onto his legs.
In the meanwhile, Amiyah and Skyler used the ice glyphs to make large chunks of ice. Harnessing their long lost grudgby skills, they hurtled them straight towards their enemy's head. Each hit made the killer whirl around as it threatened to push him to the tangle of brush. Blood began to trickle from his nose, the area around it all a swollen inflamed red.
It was time to go in for the kill (well…not literally). I slammed a plant glyph onto the ground and stomped on top of it. From the small piece of paper, a spiraling vine shot out and flung me into the air. Like a leopard, I tackled Mortimer to the ground. My knees pressed into his chest while I held the side of his head down.
This was it. We had him once again, just like on the second floor! And we didn't even need the extra help from Boscha and co.
"We'll never stop fighting. We'll never let you be. The only way all this stops is if you surrender".
"Luz…" was all he was able to croak back. "Ple…ease".
The injured witch squirmed in my grasp. He kept rocking from side to side, getting more vigorous the more and more it went on. Finally, I could barely hear the sound of something shattering. I gawked down at the hotel owner's black cloak to find a purple stain quickly spreading. From his pockets a thick cloud of smog pushed its way into the air. It was heavy, physically heavy, and numbing. Pretty soon I couldn't feel anything! I couldn't move despite my mind telling my body to!
Just like we expected the killer was armed with potions. But we never thought he'd have a paralysis potion! That completely took us out of the fight! We couldn't do anything but lay in a heap of our limp limbs!
All the thorns, bugs, and ice crumbled. Almost simultaneously, we fell to the ground. Though it was his attack, the killer was just as helpless as we were. He was more stuck to the ground than he was when I was pinning him down.
What was a rebellion a moment ago was now a long agonizing wait for the potion to wear off. Our chance for freedom had once again been put on pause.
From the side lines, Boscha, Cat, and Bo all crept out. They all held their tops to their noses, in hopes that the fabric would be enough to protect them from haze. At first, they were able to get really close to the six of us, but they didn't last much longer. They too soon collapsed.
No sound left my throat no matter how hard I tried, not even a whimper. I was stuck with just my hearing and sight. My eyes were the only thing I could move, if only a little, but that was useless in the thick fog surrounding us. The only thing I could really see was Amiyah, laying slack like a broken mannequin beside me.
Her eyes were stapled on her hands. The fight in them was blatantly clear despite the rest of her body looking relaxed. She was desperate to get her ability to move back faster than the killer did.
Suddenly, her straining made its way down her arm. I could see the tip of her finger start to twitch and then start to move. She was doing it! She was wiggling her finger!
With all of the strength left in her she began to lightly throw her hand off of the ground. The more she tried to raise it the longer she was able to keep it in the air. As she did so, familiar magenta sparks flickered in front of her.
From deep within her, her soul was soaking in all of the misery the basement had gathered. Skara and Amelia's desperation to stay alive, Willow's fear, and Boscha's grief; Amiyah was using that to try and create a flame.
I watched on anxiously, my hope making my heart race. One flame, all we needed was one flame!
Amiyah took a moment to catch her breath, then flung her hand up one more time. She was finally able to hold it up long enough. Soon a small flare flickered into existence.
She did it! There it was! That had to be the fire that was going to save us!
A huge flash of light cut my inner celebration short. The small blaze the bear had summoned quickly exploded as it reached for the vapor in the air. What once was a tiny flame had grown into a full-on inferno!
If I weren't already frozen by the paralysis potion, I'd be frozen in fear! The fire took no time to spread all around us, while we couldn't run from it!
"Move" a muffled voice called out. It seemed Boscha had gotten some of her strength back as well. "Try to move!".
As the fire grew closer, I was able to regain control of my head. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't lift it up off the floor. My mind begged my fingers to wiggle or my foot to kick but all they did was twinge. The extreme heat was mixing with the potion causing it to wear off, but it wasn't wearing off fast enough!
Like a newborn deer, Amiyah staggered to her feet. She hobbled around while fighting her unsteady balance, her back hunched over while gravity tried to shove her back down. But then she was able to take a step, then another, and soon she started to walk.
My girlfriend headed straight over to me. By the time she finished the short trek, I was just able to lift my arm up. Without hesitation, she grabbed it and yanked me to my feet. Even though she could barely keep herself upright, she propped me up against her.
Together, we both shuffled as fast as we could. The others, who had recovered just as fast as Amiyah did, rushed past us. Their worried eyes sent me their good luck while they began to run.
"Get to team B!" Boscha ordered to Bo and Cat. "Tell them they need to get out of here!".
"No!" Willow shouted while she slid to a stop. "I'm almost completely back to normal. I'll fetch them". Before the triclops could object, Willow shot away. Gus quickly followed her, in spite of not fully being recovered from the potion yet.
"Come on, Luz," Amiyah groaned as she practically drugs me. "We need to move!".
"Can't you stop the fire?" I panted back. "It's your spell".
"Are you kidding? I barely got the flame to show up and now you want me to reverse it while it's that *koff* big *koff* *koff*?".
I soon joined in with my rescuer. The smoke was destroying my mold filled lungs even further.
Amiyah growled in frustration before stopping for a moment. She dug through her pocket and pulled out what looked to be a plant glyph (kinda hard to tell with all the fumes). From it a bundle of vines emerged and wrapped themselves around my waist. The bear then slung the other end behind her back and began to drag me as if she were pulling a sled.
I tried to help her the best I could. I could move my legs again, but my back refused to stay straight. Of course, the one potion the killer used in the battle was one that was more effective on humans. Thank God that "humans" didn't mean the bears too.
Over the sounds of the fire crackling a bunch of creaky snapping sounds came from overhead. The ceiling above was quickly crumbling, bits of wood falling as they turned into nothing but ash.
"The ceiling! It's co– *koff* *koff*".
With one more loud groan, a chunk of the first floor began toppling down. Amiyah's first instinct was to shield me with her body. She held me close to her chest and wrapped herself around me. But my first instinct was much different.
If Amiyah stayed where she was, we would both be crushed. After everything she had to go through for this second chance at life, she should at least get to walk away from it all. I was just slowing her down. She needed to forget about me and go.
With all the strength I had, I rammed into the love of my life and pushed her forwards. She instantly dropped the ropes she was carrying and tumbled far away from me. She lurched to re-grab the ropes, but the ceiling finally gave in and plummeted in between us.
"Luz!" Amiyah yowled. "Luz! *koff* *koff* Say something!".
"You need to go," I yelled back. "*koff* Get out! Now! *koff* *koff*".
"No! Not without you!". I could hear the sound of her panicked pacing from the other side. "There's got to be something we can do!".
"Just go!" I hollered once again. "I'll find another way out!".
"But…Luz! *koff* *koff* *koff*".
"I'll meet you outside! Now go *koff* *koff* before it's too late!".
Amiyah was silent for a moment before simply shouting, "you better be right!".
Once the sound of her footsteps grew distant, I raced as fast as I could in the opposite direction. My only other chance was a few basement doors that led to outside in the same direction Willow and Gus were heading. If the fire had reached them or blocked my path in any way, I was doomed.
I'd never know if I would've been able to make it, because I quickly collapsed. The smoke and stifling heat fogged my senses, the ash made my lungs burn. The paralysis potion had finally worn off but the mold in my lungs and my fatigue from not eating only let me go so far before my body gave in.
I could feel my panic surge through my veins, urging me to get back on my feet, but that wasn't enough to bring back my energy. My breath became shallow. My limbs grew heavy once again as my sight flickered in and out.
This couldn't be it. I'd told Amiyah that I'd meet her outside. I was going to help her adjust to the isles in her new body, and help my mom and Vee get home and–
No. It was too late for that. My body had already given up. Perhaps now it was time for the rest of me to throw in the towel too. It would be for the best, wouldn't it? This whole trip was because of me, because I was human. It was only fair that I'd have to pay the ultimate price to fix it.
I'd die as I lived. A screw up that only made things worse.
I had a lot of regrets if you couldn't already tell, but they were all overshadowed by one. I would never get to see my family again. In that moment I had to say goodbye to my mom, my owl mom, my foster sister and brother, my friends, and my girlfriend. I could only hope they wouldn't hurt for too long.
With that I gave up my fighting and let me wallow in my sadness one final time…for a whole of three seconds.
The sound of wood being torn to pieces mixed with a determined howl turned my attention back behind me. It may have been the fire messing with my head or some weird death hallucination, but it looked as if someone was rushing towards me.
"Luz?!" he hacked before spotting me. His pace doubled, only taking a few seconds to reach me. That voice! I knew that voice!
"Mortimer?".
"Save your breath" he warned as he was losing his own. His response brought a few coughs out of him.
By both of my arms, he hauled me onto his back. Though I'd lost a bit of weight in the last couple months, and I didn't weigh that much to begin with, his weathered down bones still struggled to carry me. Yet the hotel owner marched on forwards, completely ignoring the flames licking at him.
The farther forward we traveled the thinner the air got. A soft breeze had found us, cooling my lungs as I breathed it in. The natural light grew brighter and brighter until I could see the outside world.
With one more burst of energy, Mortimer climbed out of the basement, into the open. As gently as he could, he kneeled down and laid me down onto the grass. Amiyah quickly joined him. She delicately guided my head towards her with her hand, forcing our eyes to lock.
"Luz?" she cried. "Luz, are you okay?".
I coughed a few times before giving my girlfriend a loving smile.
"Call me by my code name" I jokingly chided with a weak roll of my eyes. Tears of joy and hoarse laughter both flooded out of Amiyah. Her true terror morphed into an overwhelming relief.
"I can't believe it" she nearly sobbed. "You're alive!".
"I told you I would be *koff* *koff* But a healer would be nice".
My mother lightly nudged Amiyah away from me as she quietly whispered to give me some room. Eda was right behind her. She met me on the ground too and grabbed my hand. King was perched on her shoulder, his tail wagging a mile a minute. Just like everyone else around me, tears stained his yellow eyes.
"How are you feeling, mija?" my mother asked softly.
"I think I'm a little burnt" I answered with an amused huff. "Did *koff* Is everyone else safe?".
"Everyone's out, including all the bears," Eda answered. "And some healers from the nearby village are on their way".
I opened my mouth to say something else, but I was stopped by the old witch behind me hitting the ground. His dark eyes had suddenly grown cloudy and dull, most of the life having been drained from them. He looked so tired, as if he could barely stay awake, yet that didn't stop him from giving me a faint smile.
"Mortimer!" a gravelly voice shouted. Yet another person joined us on the ground, this time being the injured witch's wife. Her maw gaped open in surprise, exposing the cracked yellow teeth inside.
Mortimer didn't look away from me. He didn't dare. The sight of me made him completely relaxed as it gave him a strong feeling of peace. Call me crazy but I swear I could even feel pride radiating from him.
He shakily rested his hand on my arm while basking in my presence one more time. And then he was gone.
Other than the sound of Oxana weeping, everything went quiet. No one made a sound let alone said something.
That man was the reason all of this happened. He'd done plenty of horrible things that made our stay at his establishment pure hell, including killing our friends and family. Most would say he deserved a fate like this.
But mere seconds ago, that man had also saved my life. He had given his own life so that he could save the young human he often called his friend. Till the very end, he held onto his fondness of me. He treated me like a daughter he never got to have.
So, in spite of all the killing he'd done, I shed a tear for him. At that moment I didn't see him as just "the killer". I saw him as a sick witch, haunted by his memories of a serial killer. A witch who thought what he was doing was for the greater good.
Oxana saw something different too. Even though her scars still ached, the large gray witch still saw him as the man she once fell in love with. She saw her husband.
Could you say the two of us forgave him? Well, I can't speak for either Oxana or myself. All the emotions connected to those two and a half months still clash to this day. I suppose some days my grief-filled anger is the only thing my memories of Mortimer bring. But some days his unnerving yet genuine kindness towards me urges me to forgive him. Perhaps I would never be sure, but maybe one day I could move past my pungent feelings and finally set the record straight.
The faint sound of unsteady footsteps pulled me out of my reflection. Emira stopped beside the new widow and touched her on the shoulder. Her eyes looked far off, as if she was seeing something no one else could see.
"He'll find his peace" she promised quietly. "Just like the rest of us".
Emira's reassurance slowly drew out a realization. All the mystical warnings we had all received had come true. Light turned into a blazing flame, a flame lit by the grief stuck in the basement. And that flame was now destroying the very building that caused all that pain.
It was over. The fire in front of us freed us. We could finally all move on and find the peace that was promised to us. Just like Mortimer, all of us could finally rest.
