Finally, we reach the main staircase that leads to the tallest tower. Nervousness squeezes my insides, but I inhale. Despite this, the anxiety doesn’t leave while we carefully climb the stairs. It turns colder, and I peer out a window at the snowstorm. I hope this tower doesn’t collapse on us. The GB Staff is close, though. I can feel it, and so can my sword.
It moves by itself and points at the swirling staircases, never leaving my hand.
“Where are you, Shadow Caster?” I ask. I expect him to jump out. There’s no way this retrieval will be easy unless I’m living a fairytale. If something’s bound to happen, it will happen soon.
My head spins the further up we travel—likely from altitude sickness—but the pain fades when we reach the staircase’s top and see it—the GB Staff. It sits in a holder in the back, its crystal shimmering slightly, a beam of light touching the heavens.
“There it is—the GB Staff!” I whisper, a smile stretching across my face. I turn to the Spirits. “Thank you, guys. Thank you so much.”
They acknowledge me and point at the staff.
I lock my knees and carefully approach it, my hand on my sword hilt. Uneasiness flows through my veins, but I reach out and grasp the staff.
It shakes, and then a roar passes through the tower from outside before I remove it. I knew this was too easy.
The ghost girls back up, but stop when gray, shadowy Spirits appear at the staircase’s top. Their yellow eyes study me as I release the staff.
The world trembles when a bony foot with sharp, black claws clutches the windowsill behind the staff’s resting place. Shadow Caster rearranges his body and slips inside, reassembling it. He stands on two hind legs, and his bony wings flap behind him.
“Shadow Caster,” I say.
“So, you know me,” he hisses. His red eyes nearly petrify me, but I look down.
“I’m not going to let the Exon Realm rule Renial,” I snarl. “The GB Staff belongs to the Spirit Realm.”
“And I won’t let a puny kid stop me!” Shadow Caster throws his arm at me, but I duck under it. His enormous feet pick up dust, and I sneeze.
“Screw you, Shadow Caster! The Cryptics have done nothing wrong.”
“I’m not after the Cryptics,” Shadow admits, backing me up to the chipped brick wall. “I’m after you, and you know it.”
“But why?”
Shadow Caster answers by lifting his tail and slamming it into the wall beside me. It cracks, and the tower shakes, knocking me down. “We won’t have to do this the hard way if you give me the staff,” Shadow Caster says.
“Never,” I reply, standing.
Shadow growls. “Then you leave me no choice. Goodbye, Elmkim Tu Sawdi!” He hits the tower again, and I gasp, rolling out of the way of falling debris.
“We need to get out of here!” I say to the she-Spirits. My love for Renial Kingdom and someone else ignites my fight-or-flight response.
We move quickly and slide under the Exons guarding the exit. A shimmer from the GB Staff blinds them, and they stumble like they’ve been shot with an arrow.
The staircase changes to a slide under me, and I slip, hitting my elbow against the stone.
White dots flash before me as a wave of pain courses through my arm, starting at my wrist. I groan and release the staff, clutching it, but then I yell, “No!” and reach for GB.
The staff hits a bump and jumps into the sky, snapping into three pieces when it bangs the staircase again. They fly in different directions and become lost in the falling debris.
“No!” I yell again. I’ve failed. I was supposed to mend the Spirit and Exon Realms, but broke my arm and lost the staff instead.
Shadow Caster roars behind me, but I do not react. I retch in pain and throw up over my cloak and the slide. Blood from my arm stains the stone.
The white dots worsen, and I grasp my head. My arm—I can’t do it. Shadow Caster has me. He’s going to turn me into an Exon Spirit.
The Spirits and I stop at the staircase’s base, and I whimper, “I’m sorry, Renial Kingdom. I’ve failed you and won’t ever forgive myself.”
My world fades a minute later as I succumb to the Exon Realm.
ns216.73.217.14da2
and then Add to home screen.