by Mark Tufo
“Wow, talk about the cure being worse than the disease.”
“You are free from those who would control you. Out from under your masters.”
There was no way I could hide my feelings from myself. The way she presented it, sure, it definitely held some appeal. I’d always had issues with authority, at least with earthly authority. For example, a boss or a commander, but you had a good idea why they were doing what they were doing, even if they were fucking with you. This cosmic shit, on the other hand, well it’s no fun being played in a game where you don’t know the rules and you can’t possibly win.
“Then if they are using souls as leashes or collars or whatever the fuck they’re using them for, where would they go if not up or down. Huh, tell me that?” I’m not even sure why I was arguing the point.
“You have a thickness to you that is not easily penetrated. There should not be souls. Crocodiles, giraffes, ants, most of the animals and insects do not possess them. It is only the higher creatures, and for the reasons I have already told you.”
This was something I’d often wondered about, animals having souls, I mean.
“This is all a bit much for me–I’m going to need some time to sort it out.”
“I’ve had all the time I need. You will bite me, I will travel through the gate and kill anything that attempts to stop me. You may come with me or not. I suggest you decide quickly, as more of those creatures are coming and one was nearly our undoing.”
That spot between the rock and the hard place is so fucking uncomfortable, and I was wedged in tight. “If you bite me can I get mine back?”
“Why do you care so much?”
“I have a family. I want to see them again.”
“You’re a fool. They are gone, you are here. That is all that matters.” She looked over my shoulder, I spun. There was that strange shimmering effect and this time there was a line of it, indicating an army of the beasts were coming. I was scanning through my options for one that had even a pinch of decent in it. One: I stayed and fought the invisi-monsters and Eliza took off. Two: Eliza and I ran away and then she killed me for not un-attaching her soul. Three: I bit Eliza, she went through the gate, I got skewered by the monsters. Or: we bit each other and made good our escape and I leave my soul behind. Nope, I wasn’t going to do it again. “Maybe everything you said was true; more likely it was merely your skewed version of the facts as you believe them. Whatever it is, I have some knowledge of the after-life and I’m not going to pass up on it again. I’ll bite you.” I told Eliza.
She stood right in front of me, tilted my head down so she could look into my eyes. “When I tell you to stop, you will do so. Yes?”
“Trust me, yes.”
“Do it. Time grows short, we will both be weakened. We will need as much time as we can to recover.”
My eyes narrowed as my teeth elongated, I placed my hand on the small of Eliza’s back. She was so small, delicate, even. It was unimaginable that her frame could house so much pain and misery. I leaned her back. Her mouth opened in a slight sigh, her eyes half closed. Her breathing became heavy, goose pimples raised up along her arms, heat flushed her neck as I plunged in. She let out a gasp. I pulled at the sweetest blood I had ever tasted. It splashed across my tongue and down my throat. She leaned into me, letting more of her weight fall onto my hand. Her long, jet black hair nearly swept the ground. She seemed to grow lighter as I drank more of her. Her hand came up to my face. At first, it was a slow caress as I felt the fluttering of something slowly fly past. And still, I drank.
“Stop, Michael,” she said breathlessly. I knew to stop, I wanted to stop, and yet I didn’t. I could not. I was not thinking of ending Eliza so that she could not be let go on an unsuspecting world. I was not thinking of any ramifications. It was only her blood, just the blood; it was all I cared about. She began to struggle against me, her caress turning into a push. I gripped her tighter. “You will stop!” she said this both internally and externally and still, it was not enough to override the drive that had been triggered within me. Her hand became a fist, and blows were ineffectually striking my face, each had less power than the one before it.
“You are killing me!” she begged and when I opened my eyes it was Tracy I saw. She was the one I held in my arms, she was the one whose life I was draining. I don’t know if I was more mortified, wondering what she would think of what I had been doing or concerned for her well-being as I pulled free from her neck. She cried out as I caught her, she was as weak as I’d ever seen her.
“I’m so sorry!” I told her as I knelt to the ground with her in my hands. Tears fell from my eyes as I gazed upon her face. “I have missed you, each day, every day since you have gone. I have missed you.” I hugged her tight like a lost child might his favorite stuffed teddy bear. I eased up so that I could kiss her, as my lips pressed against hers the façade began to lift. It was Eliza in my arms, it always had been. She reached an arm around my neck and pulled me close. I will be ashamed until the day I die that I did not immediately pull back from that small bit of intimacy. But I already had a plan in place that made me think it would not be a guilt I carried for long. I pulled back and pulled her up onto her feet. She braced against me for a moment as she got her equilibrium.
“Now you,” she said, breathlessly.
“Where I go, I travel alone.” I dropped to my knees facing the enemy. I wanted my demise to be swift and hopefully as painless as possible, but in reality, once again I didn’t really give a shit.
“Our time together is not quite complete,” Eliza said. I screamed out as she plunged her teeth into my neck.
Chapter 22
AZILE
“Sebastian!” Azile said as she saw her old friend. “It has been too long.” She placed her forehead against the large cat’s.
“I have stayed here, waiting for his return. Even you must know, it is not likely he will do so.”
“I know you think little of him, my friend, but there is more than you and I are aware of.”
“I believe that you believe those words, Azile.”
“Sometimes, Sebastian, I would not mind you keeping your opinions to yourself.”
“As your familiar, it is my job to look out for your well-being. I would not be doing it correctly if I didn’t say what needs to be said.”
“You have delivered your message…repeatedly.”
“Yet, still you have not heeded it.”
“He is the father of my children, whom you love, by the way.”
“Completely.”
“And I love him. I am not asking you to, but I would appreciate if you two found some common ground to share, or at the very least pretended the other did not exist.”
“The latter…I can work toward that.”
Azile scratched behind his ear. He wanted to purr but thought better of it in front of the Gate Guardians.
“I need to go past that gate,” Azile said.
“No.”
“Excuse me?”
“The purpose of familiars is to keep their charges from doing something too dangerous or from drawing too much power. To watch over them. I have given you nearly free reign in all that you do because of the extenuating circumstances your world endures. But this is too much; it simply cannot be. And you looking sternly at me only works on Michael. You and I are equals, it is Michael you hold sway over.”
“Is it a condition of being male that you are all built to infuriate me as much as possible?”
“If preventing you from your own death is cause for infuriation, perhaps you should turn that ire inside. My feelings for Michael aside, he is but one man. You have two children at home, you have good friends, and perhaps more than all of that combined, a world that needs your guidance as it once again rebuilds.”
“You have been of great counsel through the years; an invaluable ally, and above it all, a true and beloved friend, Sebastian.”
“I know this speech Azile. You are going regardless of what I say.”
“I have to, Sebastian. Even though his soul may be tied to another, mine is hopelessly entangled within his. I must go to him; he is in trouble.”
“When has he not been?”
“Tommy has betrayed him.” This information perked the cat's ears up.
“Did he have reason to? I have known him nearly as long as you, I cannot believe he would have done so without cause.”
“He has reasons; his own selfish ones. He was going to turn Michael over to Ganlin in exchange for his sister.”
“He was to barter with that abomination so that he could bring his sister back into the world?”
“Yes.”
“You will need this.” Sebastian reached into his fur and pulled out a small bag made from burlap. “Do not open it here,” he told her when she began to unravel the knotted drawstring. “You will know what to do with it when the time arrives.”
“The children are with Lana and Mathieu. If I should…”
“I will watch over them until your return.”
“Thank you.” She petted him again, this time he allowed himself a small purr of contentment. The Guardians moved aside as she strode among them and through the gate. She took a moment to look back at the impenetrable barrier between herself and her world before opening the bag Sebastian had given her. “Two blood crystals?” she asked as she held them up to the unlight. “Oh!” She exclaimed before placing them back in the bag and securing it tightly.
“Now, if I were a crazy vampire with a penchant for not planning anything, where would I go?” She looked out over the expanse. “I will not dwell on it, as one choice is as good as another. Too bad there is not a fire raging or a tornado twisting, for then I would know immediately where you went, my love. You are very predictable in your unpredictability.”
The first twelve hours of traveling, Azile encountered no living being. There were plenty of dead ones. A battlefield’s worth.
“This is a new war, she said as she walked around the multitudes of the dead. “Did you directly or indirectly cause this Michael?” She did not much believe in coincidences, those were for the uninformed. She knew too much about the workings of the world and the other realms to ever think that much happened by chance. There was too much at stake to “let” things happen of their own accord. “I will follow the mayhem, that usually leads to your doorstep. I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like had you not saved me from that truck. A lot less interesting, that is for sure, and certainly much shorter.” She smiled at her thought, doing her best to shield herself from the carnage all around.
“I’m not sure what to do now,” Azile said as she looked around the desolation. She was certain she would have seen a sign of some sort by now. She could perform a locating spell, but it could be her undoing. It would be like putting a spotlight into the sky. Many more beings here were in tune with the forces of nature and magic and would notice her draw from the source. She did not think it would go unchecked. She sat down, wondering if perhaps there was some obtuse way she could find him that would be less obvious. It was in this quiet that she heard a small scrabbling, and then a soft, choked coughing sound. She said nothing, though it was clear whatever was making that noise was in distress. The scrabbling was coming closer.
“He…was…so ugly! But…but he was my friend. I…I should not…have left…” The spasmodic coughing continued. Azile spotted the tiny creature as it came up over a small knoll. The creature, as of yet had not looked up. Azile quietly stood.
“Hideous…really,” the creature sniffled. “Something that…ugly should have been locked up…but he was not…not ugly on the inside.” Linnick froze when she finally looked up.
“The…Red Witch?” Linnick asked.
“You know of me?” Azile asked, confused.
“It would be more strange, had I not.”
“Who are you, and what are you doing here?”
“My name is…Linnick. I have…”
“You are Linnick!? Where is Michael?”
“Tallboat?”
“Yes.” Azile stepped closer, Linnick scurried back.
“If you wish to kill him…it…it may be too late.”
“I am his wife. And while I often wish to kill him, it is more allegorical than actual. Now tell me what has happened, little creature.”
Linnick filled Azile in, from Mike saving her from the dendrun hole, their meeting with Bill and all about Tommy, his betrayal, the killing of Bill, the imprisoning of Michael, and her escape. “By now they will have reached Ganlin and Tallboat will be his prisoner.”
“There are a great many problems presented here. Ensuring Michael’s freedom is my top priority, but Eliza on the war path will have to be dealt with soon. She can wreak whole new levels of destruction. Finding Ganlin should not be extremely difficult.” Azile was disappointed in herself that she had not thought to do this beforehand. Ganlin would never be bashful in his draw of power; she would simply follow his beacon. She chalked her misstep up to Michael dominating her thoughts. “If we are to survive I must not have my thoughts clouded again. Thank you for your help, Linnick. Michael spoke kindly of you when we communicated.”
“I would like to stay until the conclusion.” She reached her arms up. “Michael let me ride in his chest pocket.”
“I welcome and like your company; I do not, however, possess a chest pocket. Will you be alright on my hip?” Azile pulled out the material to show her the opening.
“I will not have the same vantage point, but it does look comfortable.”
They had been traveling for a while; Azile was concentrating on picking up some magic trails. “It is not polite to stare, Linnick.” Azile could not help but notice the small Breatine had not yet taken her eyes off of her.
“It is the grotesqueness of your species; it fascinates me.”
“What?” Azile stopped.
“Are all humans as disfigured as you two? Is that why you are mated? Perhaps you met at a healing, as you attempted to cure the calamities that had befallen you.”
Azile laughed.
“It is good that someone as crippled with ugliness such as yourself can still find humor in the world.”
“Were you this same way with Michael?”
“He is somehow even more disgusting to look at than you, of course, I told him as much. Kind, he is, though. He has a determined benevolence that shines through all that he does. Unfortunately, all of it is shrouded by a great deal of pain which he does his best to hide from the rest of the world. You love him?”
“I do, from the first moment I saw him. Even then, when he was more than happily married and nearly twice my age.”
“You mean him no harm, then?”
“I…wait, Linnick. What are you doing? I can feel your presence. It is not polite to invade the thoughts of another.”
Linnick groaned as Azile entered into her head. “That is NOT the same!” Linnick shouted, forcing Azile from her. “I am seeking the truth, not sorting through your memories. One is a violation of privacy; the other is diplomacy.”
“Both are invasions as far as I am concerned. You ever do that again and I will drop you right off.”
“It is alright. I have already discovered all I needed to know. Had you not cared for him I would not have helped lead you to him. Even though he is ugly, he deserves no more pain–in this world or any other.”
“What is it about my husband that makes people instantly love him or hate him for life? There are no in-betweens when it comes to Michael.”
“It is that he presents the truth. There is no deception. He is what he shows himself to be. There will always be those that despise unabashed honesty. I knew immediately that he would not harm me, if I did not harm him. That is not typically the case, in fact, with almost everyone it is the opposite.”
“True, his idiotic charm has a way of making you feel safe, and at ease to be yourself, as well,” Azile smiled.
“Not the words I would have used, but we have come
to the same conclusion.”
“I have detected something; it is more of an echo, though. The ripples of something major that happened here.”
“Is it this Ganlin?”
“I cannot tell, but it is the only lead I have to go on. And wherever great events occur, it does not take a leap of faith to believe that Michael has had something to do with it.”
“You do not want to go the way you are heading; those are the Dendrun holes.”
“It is the quickest way.”
“And the last way.”
“Fear not, little one,” Azile smiled.
Within an hour they were standing on the western most side of the Dendrun fields.
“Michael, with all his tendency for folly, would not have come back here. I beg of you go around.”
“The ground is only dangerous when you touch it; I do not plan to do so.” Azile spoke a short incantation; her feet rose six inches from the ground.
“Oh!” Linnick said, surprised. “And how long can you hold this?”
“Indefinitely. I have tied the spell off. It is as if I have sent a round stone down a never-ending mountain side.”
“Yes,” Linnick started as Azile hovered over the new ground. “But what other manner of debris will that tumbling stone push down the mountain as it falls?”
“Did you say something?” Azile asked.
“I am implying that your actions could cause an avalanche.”
“We will be fine. Now let me concentrate on these echoes, for they are growing fainter.”
Linnick had desired a good long nap; she had not had one since she left Michael. Azile was not talking and the gliding force that propelled them had its own soothing effects, not like Michael’s rhythmic footfalls, but it was quiet. Still, there was that constant fear of where she was. Here, she had, by some strange twist of fate, been spared a miserable death being buried alive. That she had willingly gone back, was keeping her awake. She’d diligently been watching the horizon, waiting impatiently to spot the white cliffs that marked the far edge. She rarely looked down because she held no desire to see this ground. She froze briefly as she peered above the hem of Azile’s pocket. She then gently and carefully climbed farther out, clinging tightly to the soft fabric so that she could get a better look at Azile’s feet. She could not help but notice the witch’s toes were nearly dragging.