Quentin sprinted through the forest, dodging limb after limb. He couldn't risk missing this once in a lifetime opportunity. In his hand he held his destiny and the single most power weapon in Fillary. The Time Key.
The Beast was strong and powerful, but no one, not even Jane, could open the time portal without this device. It has been used 26 times before to bring Quentin and his friends back to defeat this monster, but they never succeeded. And this was going to be his golden shot.
The Beast wouldn't know what Quentin was doing because the Time Key has been erased from the Beast's memory. Once, on their 17th attempt, they got close enough to alter their chances for next time. Margo, Quentin, and Alice held the Beast with a powerful and difficult spell while Penny traveled through its mind. Penny only had enough time to erase any memories of the Time Key before the Beast broke away from their spell as they began to grow weaker. This time, they would use it to their advantage.
Quentin leaped over a rotting log and tripped over a vine. He scrambled back to his feet and continued running. The Beast was in a tomb Margo and Kady held sealed as they waited for Quentin to return with the key. Their plan was to lure the Beast into the forest where Quentin was to stab him in the heart. This was supposed to send the Beast so far back to a time that magic didn't even exist.
As Quentin neared the tomb, he could hear the Beast's wailing cries as it tried to escape. Kady had seen Quentin and gestured for Margo to help her open up the tomb. They looked to Quentin who nodded permission before they literally unleashed the beast.
Quentin readied himself by placing the Time Key behind his back where the Beast could not see. As soon as the girls dropped the spell holding the tomb shut, the Beast charged out straight for Quentin. He swiftly dodged the enraged monster, only leaving it more unhappy. The Beast pulled out a shard of glass, probably from the tomb, and lunged at him again, only this time managing to slice a part of Quentin's elbow.
Behind them, Kady and Margo had already started another spell to try and weaken the Beast. With no such luck they had decided to jump in the brawl. Quentin was hurt and couldn't do this on his own. Kady had mastered battle magic and tried to hold the Beast off long enough for Quentin to stab him with the Time Key.
Quentin took it from behind his back and stared at it in his palm. He thought about how just that morning while trying to trap the Beast, it had managed to kill both Eliot and Penny, and it was going to pay for that. Quentin let out his fiercest battle cry and charged for the Beast. The Beast charged for Quentin. The world had felt as if time itself had stopped. As the Time Key had made contact with the Beast's heart, it had also managed to get Quentin's blood in it from where the Beast had cut him.
The world started spinning and immediately Margo and Kady had disappeared. The trees disappeared. The sense of Fillary had completely vanished. The only thing left was Quentin, the dead Beast, and a useless key. No magic. No spells. Just blackness. Just Quentin.
