The One Who Was Chained

30

Alan grumbled as he watched Queenie emerge from Sybin's jaws. I didn't realise I had been holding my breath. Queenie reunited with Finn, and they circled the island, looking for a way to land. But Alan did something I wouldn't have expected from him. He used his magic. As the spell made it's way from his lips, it cast a scarlet light across the sea. Sybin froze in place, jaws still open as he lunged for Klika. They immediately made a break for it, diving down to the island. As soon as Finn hopped off of her, Klika came barreling towards me. I whistled, and she stopped in her tracks. I would not let Alan hurt her.

"So it seems that at last, I am cornered." Alan's voice almost sounded defeated. "You know, you three were the last ones keeping me from taking over."

"I doubt that you would ever surrender like this." Finn was suspicious of him. As was I. This was anything but what Alan would do.

"Oh... that." A wicked smile emerged on his face. "I still have one more trick up my sleeve." He whispered powerful words under his breath. Queenie seized up, and began to fly toward Alan.

"No!" I screamed. "You can't do this to her!" But it was already over. Queenie deposited the box in Alan's waiting hands.

"I already have. And now, to rid the world of you." He pulled out his sword, gracefully twirling it in his hand, a malicious glint in his eyes. "I have been waiting for such a long time to do this. To finally rid the world of what caused me so much pain. Any last words?" A final mercy for me. I choked back tears. I was going to die. For real this time.

"You may kill me here and now, but I will be back. The chains will always haunt your legacy, Alan. Do not forget that." I closed my eyes, preparing myself for the blade that would end me. But it never came. I opened my eyes to see Queenie, talons pinned in Alan's neck.

"For everything that you did to me, Mairen, Finn and everyone else who you hurt." Satisfied that her words had left a lasting impact, she pulled away, letting Alan choke on his own blood for a few seconds before his shallow breaths stopped and he fell to his knees, the onto his face. He was dead. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. But his death was payment enough for, as Queenie had said, everything that happened.

"I thought you were under Alan's spell. How did you kill him?" Finn asked Queenie.

"I played along with him. I knew that he believed he still had control over me, and I used that to my advantage."

"So, what now?" I chimed into the conversation, motioning to Alan's body.

"We pick up the pieces, I guess." Finn said, shrugging his shoulders. "Fix the towers, reassure the people."

"I never thought it would really happen." I whispered.

"That what would happen?" Queenie asked.

"That we would do this. We saved everyone. Not without a price, of course. But when we began our journey, I didn't think we would come close to taking down Alan. Look at what we did. Even as he tried to divide us, we found our way back together." 

Queenie perched on my right shoulder, shifting her talons lightly. I turned around, greeting Klika's bright eyes with a smile on my face. She had served us well. I stroked her scales, and healed a small gash on her forehead with a wisp of magic, then healing my own wound that I had been unable to in the cell and the shadow chains. The magic closed it up, leaving nothing but a thin white scar. With Queenie on my shoulder, Finn at my left, and Klika at my right, I looked out onto the horizon towards the setting sun. And in that moment, I promised myself that our story would be told. The unlikely story of how a girl, her wyvern, a hawk and an outcast saved the world.