Twenty-Nine Times

It was twenty-nine times, yeah. It was twenty-nine times we fought that beast, my friends and me. This would be the thirtieth time. As I had found out and expressed to everyone, we had indeed fought the beast many times. But this time had to be different. I was meeting with everyone in the Physical Kids' Cottage, when Alice arrived with something that would turn the tables on the Beast.
"Guys," Alice said as she came towards everyone. "I think I've found something."
We all went into my room where we would be safe from prying ears.
"I found a spell," Alice continued as she placed a spell book in front of our eyes. "This spell says it can erase stuff from existence."
We all looked at the book laid in front of us. It was large green book with the Brakebills symbol on the front. It was titled Spells for the Damned. I thought that was very fitting for the situation we had all gotten into.
"Really?" Asked Quentin.
"Yes." Answered Alice.
"How do we know it works?" I asked.
"We'll have to test it." Said Quentin.
"On?" Asked Penny.
"Something small, something that won't make much of a difference." Said Alice.
"What about that old oak tree behind the cottage?" Asked Elliot.
"Wouldn't getting rid of it, get rid of all of it?" I asked.
"What are you saying?" Asked Penny.
"If we use the spell on the tree, none of us should remember the tree or if we succeeded at all."
"He's got a point." Said Margo.
"We'll still try it out." Said Quentin. "Lets get to the tree."
We all met at the tree within fifteen minutes. And there it stood, tall, dark, and magnificent. We had all seen the tree before, some more than others, but seeing it now, knowing we would be erasing it from existence just made it seem all the more majestic.
We each went over the spell. Oddly enough the spell only called for one ingredient, Ashes. We had gathered tons ashes from the cottage's fireplace. Five buckets worth to be exact. The spell called that the caster covers their hands with ashes and then casts the spell.
Quentin was the first to try casting the spell.  He stood facing the tree six meters away.  He brought he stuck his hands into one of the buckets of ash and moved them around. He needed to make sure that his hands were covered with the ash. He then proceeded to try and cast the spell. He brought his hands together and did the casting the motion with them. As he did this he spoke the spells incantation.
"Kee oth rama pancakes."
And the spell was cast. But nothing happened. Everyone was at least slightly surprised that it didn't work. Quentin was the most surprised that it didn't work. He walked away disappointed with himself. Now it was Alice's turn.
Alice walked up near the tree. She stood about where Quentin had stood only minutes earlier. She plunged her hands into one of the buckets, making sure they were covered in the ash. She started the casting motion and repeated the incantation Quentin had said.
"Kee oth rama pancakes."
But again nothing happened. Alice was definitely upset that again nothing had happened. She walked back towards everyone, while Penny walked over towards the tree.
He stuck his hands into a bucket, pulled them out, and then started the casting motion. He too uttered the incantation. But nothing happened.
"Fuck." He exclaimed before he started back towards the others.
Now it was my turn. I went over to the tree. I looked at it, knowing that I could be the death of this tree and that no one would ever know what I did. I looked down to my side where one of the buckets of ash sat on the ground. I dug my hand thoroughly through the ash. I made sure my hands were covered with the ash. As I stood facing the tree it occured to me that I wouldn't be able to cast this spell, just as Quentin, Alice, and Penny were unable.
I began the casting motion. I moved my hands just as the book had instructed me and as I did, I also said the incantation.
"Kee oth rama pancakes."
As soon as I said that, I felt a great energy leave my body. I saw a flash of magical energy discharge from my ash covered hands and hit the tree. As the tree was hit with this burst of magical energy it disappeared. I had done it. I quickly then walked back to the others.
"It worked." I exclaimed with excitement."
"The spell worked?" Asked Alice.
"Yes. It did." I answered.
"What did we get rid of?" Asked Quentin.
"The tree."
"What tree?" Asked Penny.
"There was a...you guys don't remember the tree?" I asked with disbelief.
"No." Said Penny and Quentin while the others shool their heads.
"You know what this means then?" I asked.
"We can erase the beast." Said Quentin.
We all soon left to Fillory. We were on our way to kill the Beast. And, being that I was the only way capable of casting the spell that would erase the Beast from all existence, I was the one who had to do it. I was going on the front lines. I was the most likely to die. Its funny, I was never voted that in highschool.
We made it to the Nietherlands. We quietly made our way to the Fillory Fountain. And thankfully the natives were none the wiser of our short visit.
We arrived in Fillory and as always, it looked marvelous. We were heading to the castle, where the Beast had made his lair. It would take the rest of the day to get there. As we walked to the castle we remarked amongst ourselves the lives we had been living. Full of heartache and pain they, but they were still ours. And we'd be damned if we let anyone take them.
We entered a clearing of sorts. We weren't alone in this clearing however, there was a group of tauric creatures here as well. When we noticed them, we hid. We didn't know if they were aggresive or not and Quentin didn't want to take any chances. We stayed hidden for a little while, but soom enough we were on the move again, ever nearing the castle.
While we walked I talked with Penny. This might be the last time we all see each other and that being said, I wanted to take some time and talk to everyone before it was to late.
"Hey." I said.
"What?" He responded.
"Listen, I know none of us likes that this might be the end for us, but-" I was cut off.
"What the fuck is wrong with you? I'm not going to talk about us dying." After Penny said that, he walked on ahead and I gave up on trying to talk to everyone.
We arrived at the castle. Everyone was nervous, we all knew what failing would mean. Not only would we die, but so would magic. I wasn't going to let that happen.
Before we entered the castle, I dug my hands into a small sack I sack I had filled with ash. I made sure they were covered in ash. We entered the castle. No one seemed to be there and the beast was not in view. My hands were in position, ready to start casting.
We carefully, cautiously, and very slowly walked around the castle. We started in the main hall and made our way all over the castle. We went upstairs, even to the tallest tower. We went downstairs, even to the deepest dungeon. The Beast was nowhere to be found. We met back in the main hall.
"Where the fuck is he?" Asked Penny.
"I'm right here." Said the Beast as he appeared behind Penny.
But before Penny could act against him, The Beast made a quick motion with his hand and snapped Penny's neck. Penny went limp and fell to the ground.
I was in shock, but I wasn't going to let that get the better of me. I quickly started casting the spell that would erase the Beast from existence. As I made the specific hand motions for the spell, I spoke the incantation.
"Kee oth rama pancakes."
And then I felt it again. A surge of magical energy leaving my body. It jumped from my ash covered hands and towards the Beast. But then the Beast did something unexpected. He cast a spell and shot my own spell back at me. In that moment I saw my life flash before me, I saw the family I would never have, I saw the children I would never meet, I saw the man I would never get to love. The magical energy hit me and it was over. I was dead.