The Twelve Stars

Chapter 21

The world stopped spinning. It brought a cruel return to reality when my face hit muddy terrain. Needless to say, my wellbeing was the least of my concerns. Tufts of dry grass clenched in my hands as I sought for the strength to push myself up. I looked ahead to see Quentin barely conscious, lying on his back.

"Finn!" I called, my tone laden with alarm. "Finn. Quentin needs you. He's hurt-"

"I'm here, Callyk," he said.

As Finn made his way over to us, Quentin suddenly grabbed my arm, his eyes opened and strained from struggling to regulate his breathing.

"No Callyk," he said. Tears began to well in my eyes, seeing the blood stained along the area where Skofnung had impaled him through his heart. He should already be dead. "It's too late. The wound- is too- deep," he gasped.

"No. Don't say that," I choked.

Finn came up on Quentin's left and immediately began working his healing Magick on him. Light instantly ignited from his hands which hovered over Quentin's wound. It was the only essence that was keeping him alive. Finn gave it his all, but for some reason his Magick wasn't working.

"It was only a matter of time," he said.

Speaking of time, my eyes met Thad who stood next to Robyn behind Finn.

"What about you?" I asked. "Why haven't you done anything? Isn't it in your power to give people a second chance-"

"My gift has limits, Callyk," he said. His answer only aggravated me. "To save someone's life would be to sentence another's. And that kind of power shouldn't be given to anyone. Especially not to you."

I returned my attention to Quentin, too upset to argue. "Yeah well... It's a little too late for that," I sniffled.

"C-Callyk," Quentin stuttered. "Listen to me." I hated goodbyes. And yet I managed to find the strength to keep his gaze. "You define you. Don't lose sight of who you are." Finn's Magick dimmed, being too much for him to sustain. And without healing Magick, his strength to live would dwindle fast. As it did when Finn's Magick faded away completely. Quentin was on his last breath when he managed to utter two last words. "My son."

His eyes closed for the last time and his hand slipped from mine which was when I realised why Finn's Magick hadn't worked. "You wise fool," I muttered.

"Callyk?" Finn asked.

I placed my hand over Quentin's hand and gently squeezed it as a gesture of farewell. "He used my ability against yours," I explained. "That's why your healing Magick didn't work."

Frustration showed in Finn's shoulders when he sat down on his hunches. A ray of light caught my eye, reflecting from the ground next to him. It was Skofnung which sat in the dead grass next to me, its blade covered in Quentin's blood. As I picked it up, a blue aura radiated around Quentin's body. With Skofnung as its point of trajectory, a beam of light flowed out from his aura and into Skofnung's blade, vanishing on contact.

"It's only fitting that his spirit joins those of the twelve berserkers that once protected the Danish King," Thad informed. If it was meant to be a compliment, I didn't see it that way. Quentin deserved better than being trapped in a cursed blade for all eternity.

It's never easy to describe a burial. As a team, we managed to scavenge large stones big enough to surround Quentin's body not far from an isolated, leafless tree amidst a field of burnt grass. Once buried, we said our goodbyes. The sun set, flooding the sky in a deep red and I still stood. Night fell and I heard light footsteps trudge through the grass behind me. Red hair blew in my peripheral.