The Guardian

by Elicia Hyder

  She blinked, then pressed her lips closed.

  “I’m just thinking since this is a door from Earth, it might not go directly through the spirit line.”

  “You think it might have an entrance hall?” she asked.

  “It’s worth finding out before you strap those torture devices on you. If we can cut down the time you actually have to wear them in this realm, it might save your life.”

  Shaking his head, Reuel walked away. Fury’s eyes followed him. “I’ll be right back.” She put the cuff back into the case and jogged to catch up with him.

  Ionis was rocking back and forth on his heels. “What shall we do while we wait? Sing Disney songs?”

  “No,” I said, watching Fury. She was holding onto Reuel’s hand while he looked at the ground. I tried not to listen, but it was impossible…until Ionis started whistling a tune I recognized from The Little Mermaid. My eyes slid toward him.

  “What?” He spread his arms in question. “I love that movie.”

  I chuckled and shook my head.

  After a moment, Fury and Reuel walked back toward us. She was hanging on his arm, and his eyes were red and wet.

  “Everybody OK?” I asked.

  She looked up at him. “Yeah. We’re all right.”

  With a sigh, Reuel nodded.

  “Shall we try this, then?” I walked toward the edge of the circle. “I’ll go to the center while Fury touches the edge. Reuel, you can pull her back if necessary.”

  He grunted.

  Fury knelt on the ground by the edge while I walked a few feet out onto the mirror. Reuel knelt and took hold of her upper arm.

  “All right. We ready?” I asked.

  Fury extended her hand. “Ready.”

  “Go ahead.” I watched my reflection in the mirror.

  Her touch rippled the surface like she’d smacked water instead of dipped her fingers into it. The ground rumbled again, and purple mist rose all around me. The whole circle turned slowly to the right. “You good?” I called to her.

  “Yeah. The whole thing is moving…and sinking, I think!”

  I looked over. Her hand on the surface had dropped a few inches, and a definite rim was showing around the edge where it had been flush with the grass before. I had to turn to keep my eyes on her. The whole thing slowly spun like a disk, sinking deeper into the ground. Six or seven inches down, the turning stopped like it hit a wall.

  Behind me was another loud thud, then another, and another… I turned and walked toward a definite hole in the surface. Like a pie piece had fallen into a hole. The noise continued as more pie pieces fell around the perimeter.

  Kerthunk. Kerthunk. Kerthunk.

  “What do you see?” Fury shouted.

  I looked into the hole. “Stairs!” One by one they were dropping down and sliding into shallow slots along the perimeter wall. “It’s like a spiral staircase!” I started down the first few wide steps, waiting to feel the shift of a spirit line. There was none.

  As stairs appeared, I took them, winding around the circle and descending farther and farther into the cavity. Another violent shift nearly knocked me over as the stair underneath my feet catapulted me out of the hole as it sprang back to the surface.

  Good thing I could fly.

  I steadied myself in the air just above Fury and Reuel, where he had obviously tackled her back onto the grass. She was panting under his heavy arm.

  “Whoa!” Ionis started clapping. “That was like you were shot out of a cannon!”

  “What happened?” I asked, still stunned.

  Before she could answer, I saw why. Half of the staircase had formed, and when the piece under Fury’s hand dropped out, she could no longer touch the circle. The stair I was on was the last one that had dropped, and the first one to spring back into place. I’d probably almost killed them when the stair shot me up to the sky.

  I landed beside them on the grass and pulled Fury up. “Thanks,” she said, trying to catch her breath. “I had no idea it would close up so fast.”

  “I almost took your heads off, didn’t I?”

  “Yeah.” She looked across the circle. “But I think I know how to prevent it now.”

  Reuel and I followed her around the perimeter to where the first step had dropped down. Ionis hurried to catch up with us. “Wait for me!”

  When she stopped, she pointed at the mirror near our feet. “We stand on it together until the staircase is complete. Then you can check it out while I wait up here with Reuel.”

  I looked at Reuel. He shrugged.

  She offered me her hand. “Hang on to me in case this goes wrong.”

  My chest tightened, but I wrapped my hand around hers. Then we both stepped onto the circle again. Her hand clenched as the ground shook again. Then it sank down and the steps started dropping a few feet ahead of us.

  “What was it like down there?” she asked.

  “I was still very much on this planet.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I expect that crossing into Nulterra will be similar to walking through the Eden Gate. It’s almost like walking through a wall of energy. You can’t see it, but you can sure as hell feel it.”

  “What does it feel like?”

  Just the thought made me smile. “Amazing. Like an orgasm for your whole body.”

  She belted out a laugh.

  I shrugged. “It’s true. And you know that peaceful, relaxed feeling afterward?”

  She nodded.

  “It lasts as long as you’re there.”

  “Wow. That’s one way to sell it.” Her cheeks had the slightest pink tinge. “Tell me more about Eden.”

  I thought for a moment. It was hard to sum up Eden in a conversation. “It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. Everything’s clean and bright. Oh, it’s bright because we have two suns.”

  “Two? Is it daylight all the time?”

  “No. They’re pretty close together, so two sunsets and two sunrises one right after the other. I don’t even know how to describe the colors that paint the sky.”

  “I can’t even imagine.”

  I looked around the circle. Half of it had dropped out of view. “And Eden has all the things you love…except for guns.”

  She smiled. “What do you know about the things I love?”

  “I know you love mountains and waterfalls. You love perfectly ripe fruit, and anything made into a noodle. You only prefer summer over fall because of how much you love fireflies, and your favorite band is Shinedown.”

  Her mouth was gaping by the time I finished.

  I snapped my fingers. “Oh, and your favorite scent is honeysuckle, which you’ll really love about Eden. It smells like honeysuckle and sea salt.”

  “How do you know all that about me?” she asked, still wide-eyed.

  “I pay attention.”

  “Eden vacan pen kek,” Reuel argued.

  “Eden doesn’t smell like cake.” Ionis shook his head. “You’re both wrong. Eden smells like fresh cotton and linen, like new American money.”

  “Whatever, Ionis.” The dropping steps were nearing us. I pulled Fury back onto the top step. “It’s almost finished.”

  She was still staring at me.

  “What?”

  She turned her eyes toward the horizon. “I just can’t believe you remember that much.”

  “I can’t really either, to be honest.” My head tilted. Maybe I knew more about Fury than I thought.

  The last step fell all the way down to the bottom of the glowing purple hole. I tightened my grip on her as we both peered over. “I wonder if this is why they call it the pit.”

  “It’s certainly an appropriate word,” she said.

  Because each step had anchored itself into the wall, there was an open hole right down the center, allowing us a view of the floor below. “It’s so bright down there,” Fury said.

  She was right. Unlike a man-made hole, this one had almost more light at the bottom than at the top. Like a g
iant spotlight was shining onto the bottom off the stairs.

  “Eden’s Gate is pretty bright too,” Ionis said.

  “He’s right. I guess it’s time to find out where the light is coming from.” I held Fury’s hand toward Reuel. When he took it, I started down the staircase.

  As I descended, I touched my ear and tried calling out to Iliana. “Iliana, can you hear me?”

  Nothing.

  Despite the separation of the mirror, the steps were still wet and glassy, though some of the water had been displaced. The entire structure, I realized, was made of salt, or some otherworldly compound of it.

  As the walls and steps glowed, and the purple smoke they emitted twisted and curled around me, I thought of the day with Cassiel when I’d tasted the substance. Perhaps that wasn’t one of my better ideas.

  Halfway down, I looked back up. “Everything OK up there?”

  Reuel held up a thumb.

  “You look like you are headed to a rave!” With a wild smile, Ionis cupped his hands around his mouth. “Don’t do drugs, Warren!”

  Shaking my head, I continued on until I reached the bottom. On the last step, I peered down a tunnel into a bright purple light. The tunnel created the spotlight we’d seen from above.

  I looked up again. “There’s a tunnel!” I shouted. “Stay there until I come back!”

  “Be careful!” Fury called down.

  I pulled my sword from its scabbard and started down the corridor. Its walls were different from the steps, darker and more reflective. It was tall enough for me to walk with plenty of room overhead and on each side.

  Abaddon, the Destroyer, came to mind. He had made Reuel look small, so this hallway had been built to accommodate demons his size. The thought made me shudder.

  There was a slight hissing sound, a crackling and tinkling all around me like the slow shattering of thin glass. Looking closer at the walls, I saw tiny crystals growing on the surface. “Osmium,” I whispered.

  Before I had the opportunity to forget, I jogged back to the bottom step and looked up. “Fury! You’ll need your mask on before you come down here. Actually, you should put it on now just to be safe!”

  “Do you want me to come down?” she yelled back.

  “Not yet! I’ll be back soon!”

  “OK!”

  I started down the tunnel again. It wound through the earth like a snake. Around the final bend, the tunnel ended in a massive cathedral…or an ossuary.

  A cathedral decorated with human bones.

  Purple light glowed through the eyes of the skulls, thousands of them, that adorned the walls and high arched ceilings. In the center of the room, an elaborate chandelier made of intricately strung bones hung over pews made of osmium. Osmium, I was now certain, had created the elaborate trappings of this chapel of death.

  The deadly pews faced an altar, which had legs made of femur bones and a tabletop that was covered with an old dirty linen cloth. Fifteen feet behind the altar, on a pedestal made of skulls, was a throne carved out of glittering osmium. It was crowned with an elaborate bone mosaic, that spelled out a single Katavukian phrase:

  Mit akis magnus anlo, Akai aut uruva me teva.

  Or in English, “On his greatest love, I will build my church.”

  In a word, the whole place was wondrous.

  And wicked.

  I cautiously walked down the aisle between the two sets of pews. On the first row on my right, a flash of pink caught my eye. A doll with pink-yarn hair lay facedown on the seat. I picked it up and looked at its worn and dirty face. A chill ran down my spine, and I shoved the doll into the deep side pocket on my thigh.

  When I reached the altar and could see beyond it, I realized the bright purple light was being emitted from another staircase down through the floor, just in front of the throne.

  Without even touching it, I knew…

  This was where blinded souls had been led to die.

  This was the new spirit line.

  The gate to Nulterra.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Again, the thought occurred to me that I could go into Nulterra without Fury. But I was reminded that she had the key, not me, and she’d follow me anyway. I reluctantly returned to the steps and looked up.

  She was now sitting at the top with her boots crossed over the steps in front of her.

  “Hey!” I yelled.

  She flinched, startled, and looked down. She wore a gas mask like I’d asked, but she removed it to reply. “We were about to come look for you! What took you so long?”

  I looked at my watch. I’d been gone less than ten minutes. I shook my head. “A little patience would be nice! I was exploring the gate to Hell, you know?”

  “You found it?” Her hands were clasped beneath her chin.

  “Yes! Tell Ionis to grab our gear. It’s safe to come down without the cuffs on!”

  She jumped up.

  “Fury!”

  She looked back at me.

  “Keep the gas mask on. The chamber down here is filled with osmium!”

  She pulled the mask back over her face.

  While I waited, I sat on the bottom steps and let my mind stir on all the things that could go wrong.

  We’d verified everything we could about osmium through Chimera and Google, but what if Moloch lied? What if there were other effects we didn’t know about? What if it wasn’t osmium at all and only something that looked and behaved like it, but was really much more deadly? What if the cuffs didn’t work? What if the new spirit line burned everything away including human flesh—

  Gunshots jarred me from my thoughts.

  I jumped to my feet and flew straight up the center hole of the staircase. When I shot up above the surface, I saw what looked like the same militia who’d threatened me and Cassiel. All their guns were now pointed at me.

  Fury was still standing on the top step, and all three of my companions had their arms raised over their heads. Thankfully, none of them appeared to have been shot.

  Ionis was clearly trying to negotiate, as he was the only one who could communicate with them. It wasn’t working. One of the men fired a shot off at me. I dodged sideways.

  “What are they saying, Ionis?” I called.

  “Something about payment. A young girl was killed. Did you do that?”

  “Seriously?” I asked him.

  “You are the Angel of Death.”

  The man shouted louder.

  “He wants to know about payment,” Ionis translated.

  “Do you know what he’s talking about?”

  “Do I look like an Angel of Knowledge?” he shouted up at me.

  But Cassiel, an Angel of Knowledge, hadn’t known what they were talking about either. The deal these people had made was not with the angels. It was with the devil.

  “Ionis, find out who died and what payment. Reuel, take Fury halfway down the stairs and wait for me!” She was the only one of us who could be mortally wounded by a gunshot, so I wanted her out of the line of fire.

  Before the gunmen could retake aim, they ran down the stairs.

  Ionis started talking as calmly as possible. He took a few steps forward, and they opened fire.

  “Shit,” I muttered, diving toward the ground.

  When I landed in front of Ionis, they fired their AK-47s at me. Not many bullets hit, but a few rounds tore through my chest. One struck my thigh, dangerously close to parts I’d rather not have to heal. I stormed forward through the spray. One younger man dropped his gun and ran. The others kept firing.

  I stopped in front of the man who appeared to be the leader and pressed my palm against the end of his barrel. He fired, and the bullet shot straight through my hand and lodged in my shoulder. I watched his startled face through the bloody hole until it closed completely. The bullet squeezed back out of my skin and tumbled over my shirt to the ground.

  The man fell to his knees, dropping the rifle in front of him. He was begging. That much was obvious. Several other members of the g
roup dispersed.

  I knelt down in front of the leader and beckoned Ionis forward. The man was sobbing hysterically. I put my hand on top of his head. “Shh. It’s OK. I won’t hurt you.”

  “I got shot!” I looked back as Ionis neared me. A deep red stain had blossomed on the breast of his blazer. “I’ve been on Earth for a thousand years in complete peace. I’m with you for a couple of days, and I get shot!”

  “Ionis, tell this man I’m not going to hurt him,” I said.

  “But he hurt me!”

  I glared.

  Ionis spoke to the man in what sounded to me like English. That was the way the messengers worked on Earth. They could be understood by all, no matter the language. “Relax. No one here is going to hurt you. We want to help you.”

  The man looked up.

  “Tell him we didn’t come from the hole.” I pointed back to it. “We’re trying to close the hole forever.”

  “What if he doesn’t want the hole—”

  “Ionis,” I scolded.

  Ionis told him what I’d said.

  The man replied, this time no longer screaming. Ionis translated. “He said they will give you anything you want if you will close it.”

  “Ask him again what happened here. Find out why he is afraid of us.”

  When Ionis asked him, the man launched into a tearful rant. “He says the other men came out of the hole and took his daughter. Her brother saw a shining man lead her into the hole. She never returned.”

  “How long ago?” I asked.

  Ionis asked, then translated. “Nine months, three days, and a few hours.”

  My heart ached for the man. “I’d bet anything that shining man was Moloch.” I swore.

  “You think so?”

  “Yeah. He’d possessed the body we saw him in when he was with the prime minister of Malab.

  “He says there are old stories about the stairs leading to a church with a high priest who could heal. They would take their sick and dying loved ones there, along with a prisoner or someone they didn’t like. The priest would trade a life for a life and heal the loved one in exchange for the prisoner. Sometimes they would trade people to the priest for money or food.

  “The people thought they were just stories to scare children and make them behave. Then his daughter went into the hole and didn’t come back. He says he doesn’t want payment. He just wants his daughter back.” Ionis’s whole body deflated. “That’s sad.”