The Broken

on dried leaves. Was this thing laughing? "I do. That little brother of yours is so...sweet. He'll be most delicious."

  "What did you do to my family?" Link said, still trying desperately to open his eyes. The burn was agony, and he scratched and rubbed them with his fists. Where was everyone? Why had all the others abandoned him?

  "Let's just say, it's going to be much harder to get your daddy's signature for field trips."

  "You're lying. They're nowhere near here. You don't have a clue where they are, do you?" The moment Link said the words, something snapped deep inside of him. He'd finally had enough. He was sick of people thinking they could push him around just because they were bigger and stronger. No more. With complete clarity, he knew exactly what he needed to do. He ignored the painful throb in his eyes and lowered his hands form his face. This was it. This was the time Mrs. Greta had told him about. It was finally time for him to use his camera. All he needed to do was distract this monster long enough to take a picture, and it would all be over.

  "I know who you are," Link said defiantly. He stuck out his chest and straightened his back. "Thought you could scare me into giving up? Well, you're wrong. I'm not scared of you." Link opened his eyes wide, embracing the burn.

  "You think you know who I am, boy?" a voice thundered. "Well, go on then. Out with it! In fact, let's make it interesting. How about we play a game? You guess my name, and I'll kill your entire family. But I must warn you, guess wrong and I'll kill your entire family and steal the body of your baby brother as my next vessel. It is as good an offer as you are going to get. Do we have a deal?"

  Link felt the air rush out of his lungs. Not Ayden. His stomach churned, both from fear and the stench of drying blood and singed rotting skin. How was he supposed to be a Chosen if he was nothing but a spineless coward? What was his problem? He clenched his teeth and stuck out his jaw.

  "Doesn't matter what you decide," the specter continued. "You are all going to die. The only questions remaining to be answered are how much you will suffer, and how long your suffering will last." He chuckled. It was a dry humorless laugh that hurt Link's ears. "Well, go on, boy. I'm waiting. What's...my...name?"

  Link summoned all his courage, and said, "You're just a poser. You're a wannabe. A has-been." He spit out each word with all the contempt he could muster. He felt his courage start to rise. He could do this. He had to do this.

  "Oh, you flatterer, you. Your mother thought the same thing. Then she burned all those people. Burn, piggy, burn. Then run, run away."

  "You leave my mother out of this. You're nothing but a pathetic little Skia, scared of his own shadow! No, wait. You don't even have a shadow because that's what you are. So tell me, little shadow, where is your master now? Surely, you aren't the one in charge."

  Link watched the creature's face undulate in waves, never maintaining a solid form. The only way Link knew his insults had found their mark was because of the tensing of the creature's gloved hands. The anger seemed to percolate for a brief instant before the thing lashed out, losing all composure. "How dare you!" he thundered. "You think this is a joke! Do you have any idea the power I possess? You know full well that I am Raythuse! In one night, I've accomplished something all twelve Skia legions have been unable to achieve for centuries! You're nothing but a maggot compared to me! An ant to be stepped on! When will you filthy fleshborns learn? You're only purpose is to feed me and my minions!"

  Raythuse spat on the floor, spraying bloody worms to the ground. "Ap?l?g??mai has protected his worthless playthings long enough. It all ends here. But first, all of you must suffer! Mark my words. Before the end, I'll teach you what it means to scream. Before I am done, you will beg me to kill you!"

  It was working. This was Link's chance. Raythuse was distracted by his own anger. Link slowly raised his arm. All he had to do was reach his camera. He inched his arm up in tiny, hopefully unnoticeable, increments toward the camera.

  "I am the rightful ruler of Halcyon!" Raythuse screamed. "Not Ap?l?g??mai, and certainly not your pathetic group of Chosen misfits. The Ordeum are nothing to me. The light is over! It is time for darkness to rule! And I am that darkness! For I am Raythuse! Now that I've found the camera, I'll be unstoppable." Raythuse laughed uncontrollably at the prospect of his impending triumph.

  Link knew the time to act was now, while Raythuse was preoccupied with unleashing yet another string of obscenities. He lifted his arm back as fast as he could and grabbed hold of the camera. But before he had the chance to use it, an unseen force hurled him back through the air.

  His head smashed against the open door of Panch's room before he finally collided with the building's outside wall. Upon impact, the arm he had used to grab the camera twisted and was crushed beneath the force of his own weight. Link felt sick as he heard it snap in several places. He felt the bones shatter inside his arm, pierce his skin, and poke into his back.

  How had it happened so fast? One second Raythuse stood more than ten feet away. The next he had been standing over Link's broken body, somehow holding the camera.

  Agony assaulted Link's senses from every direction. Raythuse had been right. The pain Link felt was so intense that he found himself hoping death would take him soon. Writhing upon the floor, he barely managed to cling onto consciousness. He knew he needed to get out of there somehow, or this would be the end of him.

  When he first tried to get up, the room began to spin like a roulette wheel. Once again, Link struggled to get to his feet. This time his efforts were rewarded with a devastating kick to the head.

  Dizzy and still reeling from pain, Link unsuccessfully tried to focus his eyes. Blood filled his mouth, and bile crept up the back of his throat as he searched for the camera. Link wanted to get up and run, knowing he needed to escape, but his body was broken. Even his fingers no longer responded to his commands.

  As if in slow motion, Link looked beyond the carnage and saw Raythuse laughing.

  Link brought his gaze back to Raythuse's wicked stare. Time began to speed up, returning to normal. In that instant, Link knew for certain that he was going to die.

  In an act of sheer desperation, he closed his eyes and prayed. Surprising even himself, he did not pray for his own safety. He knew that was no longer possible. Nor did he pray for his friends and family to be spared. That, too, seemed beyond hope. Instead, he uttered two words. As Link tried to hold back his need to scream for long enough to get the words out, he said only, "Forgive me." Barely able to breathe, having spent the last of his energy, Link let go and waited for the darkness to swallow him up forever.

  "Who do you think you're talking to?" he demanded. "I'm your God now. Ap?l?g??mai will soon be dead! But not you. You're not allowed to die. I won't let you. Once I steal your spirit with this camera, you'll be able to experience this moment forever. Won't that be wonderful? Isn't that exquisite?"

  Raythuse raised the camera and lined up the shot then paused. "Silly me. I'm being rude. Perhaps you would like to watch one of your friends die first." Raythuse plunged his hand into the emptiness of Panch's bed and ripped free a dangling shadow in the shape of his friend. Then he hoisted the lifeless shadow high into the air. With his other hand, he lifted the camera. "Did you really think you could hide this from me?" he asked, holding it aloft in triumph.

  As Raythuse laughed, the chorus of voices began anew. Everyone, everywhere, all screaming, all laughing. Link's ears felt as though they were on fire like his eyes.

  Then as suddenly as they had begun, the voices became silent. Everything fell silent except the terrible sound of Raythuse's voice. His words rattled from within Link's mind, as if Link himself were the one thinking them. "I want to remember your face when I kill you. I hope you are watching this, Ap?l?g??mai. You coward!"

  Still clinging to the fading tendrils of light, Link watched helplessly as Skia enveloped him in darkness. The last thing he saw was a bright flash of flames as Raythuse pressed the button. The room suddenly erupted into a wild blue fire that ate away at th
e red background. The energy the light released was both blinding and short-lived. Link found that he was too tired to fight anymore. He had lost. Slowly, he began to slip beneath the oncoming waves of darkness. Oblivion felt oddly warm and inviting because he was tired, so very tired. Before long, everything went black.

  56

  The Reunion

  Link awoke in slow motion. He knew he was dead, but he hadn't expected the afterlife to be so blurry. At least the red background was gone. Was he in Neverworld as Raythuse had promised?

  Gradually, the room around him came into focus, and Link's heart panged in despair at the sight of friends and family. Had Raythuse killed all of them as well? He tried to raise his hand, but it had been immobilized in a cast that had been bandaged to his chest.

  "Dude! You're awake," Panch yelled. "Sweet! Hey everybody, Weasley is back!" There was a noisy bustle as the small group of people went into a frenzied celebration of emotion and cheers.

  Still confused, Link looked around the room. "Am I dead?"

  There was a moment of silence before the group burst into another fit of hysterics. Upon hearing the raucous laughter, two nurses barged into the room. One of them raised her voice above the din of celebration. "Please! Everybody! We need you to leave the room. We have to run a few