by D. N. Leo
Nothing happened.
"Ayana Dee!" Tadgh called.
Still nothing.
"Sciphil Nine! Pete Chandler! Anyone, for fuck's sake!" Tadgh yelled.
The air thickened. The hologram of Richard Kelley appeared, his eyes bleary and his hair a mess.
"We’re a little preoccupied because of what you just did. Stop yelling, Tadgh," Richard directed.
“Shouldn’t you be thanking us for killing Juliette?” Tadgh said.
"Grandfather, we didn’t kill her, did we? Is she taking Ciaran now?"
"Madeline, you killed her presence."
"What does that mean, exactly?" Tadgh asked.
Richard wiped at his sweating forehead. “As a Sciphil, she won't die like a human being. The only way to end her existence is to terminate her energy source at her tower. I can’t access her tower.”
“We killed her presence. Does that mean we’re halfway to killing her completely?” Madeline asked.
Richard shook his head. “What you did was incapacitate her temporarily. You pushed her back to her tower. There, she will use her eudqi to form another presence. Once she forms again, she will be invincible.”
“Eudqi? Do I need a new dictionary?” Tadgh asked.
“A eudqi is a life force made of multiple astrological sources of energy. We have nine Sciphils, and eight of them hold major sources of eudqi. The king is a Sciphil who uses his own eudqi to combine the other eight and make it a unified eudqi that sustains Eudaiz. The king’s eudqi is the strongest, and only he can terminate the other Sciphils. The other eight cannot terminate one another.”
“Okay, so you can’t disconnect Juliette from her eudqi, and now she will reform and be invincible. I guess blowing up her presence was a fucked-up plan. But it wasn’t our fault. But how does taking Ciaran fix the problem?” Tadgh asked in frustration.
“What do you mean by Ciaran being taken?”
“He’s comatose and negotiating in French for a release of our mother. Isn’t that the condition you and Juliette created to get to Madeline before?” Tadgh asked.
“What we created was a hybrid hologame. In Eudaiz, only Juliette controls the games. But she is not in control of herself right now. So how can she be controlling Ciaran?”
“So who is doing this now?”
“I have a theory, but if I tell you, you have to do something for me afterward, Madeline.”
“If anything happens to Ciaran, I won’t follow through with anything I promised you before, let alone what I’m promising now.”
“I don’t have a choice, Madeline.”
“Fine. Say it if you must. I’ll see what I can do.”
“The disk that Juliette created has a program that helps humans enter the Daimon Gate. It’s at the villa outside London. You’ve been there. I need you to retrieve it. If you need to enter the Daimon Gate without me, use it.”
“Is that all?”
Richard nodded.
“Okay, I’ll do it. What’s your theory about Ciaran’s current condition?”
Richard contemplated. “Ciaran is the successor of Sciphil Three, the King of Eudaiz.”
“Fuck me,” Tadgh mumbled.
“Although the king is still in control of his eudqi, and his presence is still intact, no one has been able to contact him for more than thirty years.”
“You’ve lost your king?” Tadgh shook his head.
“He’s still in charge. He knows what is happening in Eudaiz. He just hasn’t connected or taken any action. When Juliette reforms, it will be disastrous for Eudaiz. The only person who can terminate Juliette is the king. If you were the king, and for some reason, you could not take action yourself, what would you do?”
“I’d get my successor to do it,” Madeline said.
“Exactly.” Richard nodded.
“So let’s get this clear . . . The current king wants Ciaran to go through the Daimon Gate—which sounds a lot like jumping through the gates of hell—to get to Eudaiz, become king, and kill Juliette, who at that point might have become invincible already. Piece of cake!” Tadgh retorted.
“I know it’s not easy. That’s why I think Ciaran is receiving some training now. The king cannot connect with us, but Ayana activated the seal of the successor on Ciaran’s arm a few days ago, so the king might be able to connect with his successor now. But that’s only a theory.”
“You’re saying Ciaran is in a hologame now?” Tadgh asked.
“The king built the first super artificial intelligence system in the multiverse. The system ran Eudaiz flawlessly while he was in absence for more than thirty years. If the training comes from him, it won’t be just a hologame, Tadgh.”
“What can we do to help him?” Madeline asked.
“If you have faith in God, then pray.”
The hologram of Richard flickered and disappeared.
Madeline stormed into the bedroom. Tadgh followed. The room was as quiet as a tomb. Jo sat at the end of the bed, holding a damp cloth, confused and worried. Before Madeline could ask, Jo hopped off the bed and shoved the cloth into Madeline's hands.
"He’s burning up like an oven. I can't watch this. Did you get any info? Is there anything I can do to feel less useless?"
Madeline pulled the sleeve of Ciaran’s shirt up, revealing the crucifix tattoo glowing white and blue.
“Jesus Christ, Grandfather was right. The king must have Ciaran in some form of a game.”
“A hologame?” Jo asked.
“He said it might be something more complicated and advanced than a hologame.”
Ciaran grunted as if he had been hit. His body tensed up and convulsed like he was in a fight—or being beaten up. Madeline jumped on the bed. She held Ciaran's hands. As soon as he felt her hands on his, he gripped them.
"Ciaran, please come back to me!" Madeline cried out.
Ciaran squeezed Madeline's hands, and his body gradually loosened up.
Jo stared, contemplating. Then she yelped out the words, "Kiss him. Kiss him, Madeline."
Madeline did.
Ciaran's body relaxed and cooled down instantly.
"He can feel you. He can feel us. And that means we can feel him." Jo waved her arms in the air for victory. Madeline and Tadgh gawked.
"Can you wake him?" Tadgh asked.
Jo scurried toward the bedroom door.
"Where are you going?" Tadgh asked.
"To get the eyes." She disappeared out the door. Then they heard her voice. "I need your muscles, Tadgh."
"Oh, okay."
Tadgh rushed out of the room.
A moment later, Jo, Tadgh, Doctor Thomas, and George filed back into the room. Jo dove to the computer keyboard, doing something that only she and Ciaran would understand.
"Doctor Thomas, I need the connections to his vitals and visuals," Jo said while typing like a madwoman.
Doctor Thomas connected a wire to Ciaran's body.
"George, can you hook up the monitor?" she asked while still typing.
"My expertise." George didn’t hesitate to dive in to help his cousin.
Ciaran's temperature shot up again. Madeline grabbed the cloth and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He grunted again.
"That's a fucking kick from the back. Coward," Tadgh swore.
"How do you know, Tadgh?" Madeline asked.
"I don't know, Madeline. But I have no fucking clue what else to do here."
"Done," Jo said.
George turned the monitor on. Images of faceless creatures with bodies shaped like half-man and half-ape looked back through the screen. Everyone gasped.
"Holy cow, what is that?" Tadgh gaped at the creatures.
"We’re seeing what Ciaran is seeing," Jo said.
"So we are looking at this from Ciaran's perspective? We have his visual?" Doctor Thomas asked.
"Yes," Jo said.
"He's lying on the ground. Those fuckers must have attacked him from behind. Like I said, cowards!"
"Good, Tadgh, you know
Ciaran's movements. Tell us—” Madeline began.
"I'd kick that fucker right there in the face," Tadgh said, pointing to the monitor.
On the monitor, they saw Ciaran’s foot kick into the head of the monkey standing in the middle. The other monkeys yelped. They could see a punch here and a kick there until the bunch of monkeys retreated and ran away.
Then they saw an open field with rolling green hills on one side and stone caves on the other. The air was suspiciously still.
"What is that? Jo, is there a way we can communicate with Ciaran?" Madeline asked.
Jo shook her head. "I don't think so. I don't know how."
On the monitor, they kept seeing quiet meadows and rivers.
"No, this isn’t right. It’s suspicious. I wouldn't keep moving," Tadgh said.
On the monitor, the scenery became static, suggesting that Ciaran had stopped moving forward.
In the distance, they saw a pack of wolves rise from the tall grass and charge toward them.
"Oh, God, can we give him a weapon, Jo?" Madeline asked.
"It's not a hologame. I can't insert anything or manipulate the data.”
"Time traveling. Is this a simulated game?" George asked.
"Can he hear us? He felt Madeline before,” Tadgh said.
"I don't think he can hear any of us," Jo said.
"This is in another dimension. It's not time traveling, and it’s not a hologame. It’s dimensional traveling. Ciaran told me about that yesterday," Tadgh said.
"Which dimension?" Jo asked.
"I don't know. I didn't pay him any attention. Some stupid quantum physics rules. Something about a parallel universe. Some strings or wires. How the fuck should I know?" Tadgh kicked at the desk.
"You mean M theory? Quantum travel?" Jo asked.
"I don't know, Jo. Whenever he goes on about that, my brain turns into clay."
"But he's here. His body is here, at least. So whatever the dimension is, how can we channel him back here?" Madeline asked.
"Maybe you can talk him back. He can't hear us, but he seems to respond to you, Madeline," Doctor Thomas suggested.
Chapter 18
The ferocious wolves charged closer to savage.
Ciaran turned around and raced toward the forest. He ran as fast as he could.
On the monitor, everyone in the room could see the shaking view of the forest. They could see Ciaran's hands reaching up and breaking a tree branch. He held it like a weapon. He turned around and stared straight at the wolves.
The view of the incoming wolves filled the screen, suggesting that Ciaran had zeroed his view in and was looking straight at them.
Gigantic wolves.
They ran in a pack with structured attacking positions. The leader, an enormous black wolf, ran in the middle. It charged at Ciaran as if it was its life mission to kill him.
Ciaran stepped closer. When the wolf leaped at him, he ducked down and stabbed the sharp edge of the tree branch up. The branch impaled the wolf. It fell and roared. But the wound was not enough to kill it.
"Hit it! Whack the motherfucker into the mud!" Tadgh screamed.
On the screen, the view suggested Ciaran was doing just that. He hit at the big wolf with the tree branch nonstop.
A bunch of smaller wolves lunged at Ciaran.
"Oh my God, Jo, there are so many of them. Can we give him a gun?" Madeline asked.
"I told you before—it’s not a hologame. There’s nothing I can do to help. But it does feel like a simulated environment. It seems like these are challenges. Problems he has to solve to pass a test."
"Would they kill him for real?" Tadgh asked.
Before Jo could answer, Ciaran moaned.
"It must have bitten him. It did! It bit him!" Madeline yelped when she saw a streak of blood on Ciaran's hand.
Tadgh paced, mumbling to himself. "So it kills. It can kill.”
Several smaller wolves charged at Ciaran.
"Tadgh, Tadgh . . . what would you do now?" Madeline cried out.
Tadgh still mumbled. "Don't know. I don't know. Challenge. It's a challenge. Isn’t that what you said, Jo?'
"Yes," Jo responded.
"I . . . I'd try to kill the big wolf. That's my only chance," Tadgh said.
Another bleeding wound appeared on Ciaran's arm.
"They're mauling him!" Madeline panicked.
The screen filled with wolves’ teeth and claws. Some were scarily close. Some of the wolves were spun away as Ciaran flailed his arms. A few more were kicked and thrown away, creating a gap.
The big wolf stood up and plunged through the gap.
Ciaran reached his hands up and grabbed for it. He spun it around and pinned it on the ground.
On the screen, it was clear that Ciaran no longer had his weapon. His two bare hands clutched at the head of the big wolf. It tried to kick free and growled.
On the bed, another wound broke out on Ciaran shoulder.
"Crush the head! Crush its head!" Tadgh yelled.
"He can't crush that monster's head with bare hands, Tadgh," George said.
"I know. But he can't let go. It’s his only chance."
Another wound broke out on Ciaran's shoulder. Blood dripped down onto the mattress.
On the screen, they saw Ciaran's hands gripped tightly on the monster's head. He was still being bitten by some of the smaller wolves, but he squeezed hard. Harder. More. But the wolf’s head was still intact. It turned around and tried to bite his hands.
Madeline looked at Ciaran's face. Then looked at his hands on the screen. She understood what he needed to do—and what she needed to do to help.
On the bed now, she bent down and kissed Ciaran. Her lips connected with his. She grabbed his hands and squeezed hard.
Her thoughts connected to his.
You have my support. You have me, Madeline thought. She squeezed his hands harder. Kill it with your bare hands, Ciaran. I love you, Madeline told him in her mind.
With all the power of her psychic ability, she transferred her energy, her thoughts, her wishes to him.
She connected to him. This was what he needed.
Kill it, Madeline thought again.
She squeezed his hands harder. Kill it.
On the screen, Ciaran's hand crushed into the wolf's head. Its head caved in like a smashed watermelon.
The wolf disintegrated and vanished along with the smaller wolves.
On the screen, Ciaran looked at his hands as if he could not believe what he had done.
Madeline kissed Ciaran's cheek. She wiped the blood from the wounds on his shoulder. She wished he would open his beautiful gray eyes and look at her. But it seemed as if there were more challenges awaiting him wherever he was at the moment.
On the screen, the forest burst into flames.
Ciaran ran. He charged out of the forest and headed toward the water.
The heat must be incredible. Ciaran's body temperature shot up as if he had a fever. Madeline grabbed the cloth nearby and wiped away the sweat that dripped into his eyes.
It looked as if there was a river in the distance. He sped up. He could beat the fire.
From a small bush nearby, a baby wailed. Ciaran looked. Laurent was there, holding baby Bella in her arms, running from the fire. Laurent was lagging behind.
"It’s an illusion. They want to slow him down. Come on, Ciaran. Don't stop!" Tadgh yelled.
Ciaran grabbed Bella and helped Laurent run. They slowed him down considerably. The fire caught up. It was only a few feet away from them.
Madeline knew she couldn’t ask Ciaran to leave the woman and the baby behind. He had to know it was an illusion. Laurent and Bella had died in front of him weeks ago.
They were one of Ciaran's deepest regrets. They were his weakness. But still, in whatever dimension or whichever world he existed in at the moment, he could not leave the woman and the baby behind.
They approached what looked to be a river, only to discover that it wasn’t a river at
all. Instead, they faced a bottomless canyon, connected to the adjacent mountain by a tiny crossing bridge.
The fire exploded into fireballs, and they rolled toward them at an incredible speed. Ciaran gave baby Bella back to Laurent and helped them to the bridge. He held the bridge firmly so that Laurent could cross safely.
The fire closed in. The air pressure and the wind swung the bridge violently from side to side. The wire snapped, and the bridge collapsed.
Ciaran reached out for Laurent's hand. She dragged him over the edge of the canyon. Ciaran's left hand hung desperately onto the edge. His right hand grabbed for Laurent, who was still hanging onto the baby. They were dangling from the cliff by Ciaran's left hand which bore the entire weight of his body, Laurent's, and the baby's.
"This isn’t possible. They died. It's an illusion. Let them go,” Tadgh said in desperation. But he knew Ciaran would never do that.
Ciaran would never do that if it were his decision . . . if it were under his control, Madeline thought.
This was a test of the strength of a leader, of the ability to compromise and sacrifice smaller subjects for greater causes.
But this was not fair. Ciaran didn’t know he was destined to be the ruler of Eudaiz. He didn’t know how great of a cause it was. He didn’t know this was a test. She had to help him.
Chapter 19
Madeline kissed Ciaran again. She locked their thoughts together. She intertwined his pain and her pain. She whispered in her mind.
Let them go, Ciaran. You have to survive.
On the bed, Ciaran's right hand grabbed at the bed sheet. Madeline held it.
Let go, Ciaran. For me. You have to survive. You have to live for me. Let go, Madeline thought.
She knew he could read her thoughts. She pulled his hand off the bed sheet. Sweat streamed down his face. Madeline could taste it. She could smell the black water at the bottom of the canyon. She could feel the breeze coming from the darkness. She could hear the call of death.
She kissed Ciaran deeper. I love you, Ciaran. You have to stay alive. People depend on you. Let Laurent and the baby go. You have to let them go.
Madeline pulled hard at Ciaran's right hand.
On the screen, his hand let go. The woman and the baby fell into the darkness.