The Rise

by Nathan Parks

  “It wasn’t her time, Leah. It wasn’t her time!”

  “Time is not controlled by any of us, Mortal or Immortal, My Friend. It is its own power; and no matter the life source that flows through us, it touches each of us in ways that we can never understand or explain.”

  “What do I do now? Where do I go? I can’t go back to our home. I can’t! I should have never had her come here! I built our home for her! She was the oasis in the middle of that desert!”

  His last words slammed into her conscience as he spoke them.

  “What did you just say?”

  “Tanisha was what brought life to . . .”

  “No . . . say exactly what you said before!”

  He was puzzled.

  “I said she was the oasis in the middle of the desert.”

  “Eve!” Leah’s voice was raised with a hint of both excitement and anxiety, “The prophecy that you stated to Legion . . . what exactly was it that Isaiah said about it? I mean literally what did he say?”

  The Nephelium waited for a moment as she pondered over what she could recall.

  “He stated there was a series of passages that talked about a woman and her children who were sent away into the . . .”

  She didn’t even finish. The answer she was reciting seemed strange to her as she thought back over it.

  “He said they were sent away to the desert for protection and that when the time of the Dracon came, they were called out of the desert to overcome the Dracon and his forces.”

  “Zarius! It wasn’t about Megan and the twins, but about Tanisha and the twins! She came out of the desert to meet the children here. Her coming here was the prophecy! It wasn’t about a mother and her children but about a woman who would protect the children as a mother!”

  Zarius sat stunned. He looked down at Tanisha’s lifeless face. He loved her even more. She never asked for any of this; but her love for a man who walked out of history would bring her into an historical moment that she—and only she—could fulfill.

  “If she could only know the truth, she would be laughing at all of us right now,” he cried, his tears falling onto her face and hair.

  Victoria walked over and stood behind where the Vapor sat. She wrapped her arms around the big man and hugged him as if she had never hugged anyone before.

  “You are right. She would laugh, Zarius, and then she would love on you. If only we all could find the love that you both had for each other, this world would be better off.”

  Leah felt the warmth and wetness of her own tears start down her face. She opened up her hand and looked down at the one thing that had tied her to a time when she had felt that type of love and even felt the sense of protection that flowed from her to her child and to Joan.

  She reached over and took Zarius’ hand. She indicated that she wanted him to hold it out. As he did, she placed the vial with its broken chain in the center. She then curled his fist around it.

  “This is for you. This is your moment, Zarius. This is your time to discover that, although time may have its brushstrokes against our backs, we can control the way the colors are blended.”

  The big man shook his head, “I don’t understand.”

  “This vial has travelled through time and space, been fought over, sought after, and even hidden for this moment right here. She fulfilled her purpose in the universe; so, let’s allow this vial to fulfill its purpose. If mythology and rumors are true, then this blood holds the sequence of life itself.”

  Understanding swept through his soul. He opened up his hand and looked at the intricate iron work that had been placed around the glass vial. He touched the broken chain and could not imagine all the hands and beings who had done the same over the ages. He looked around at all the faces looking back at him, and his eyes fell upon the body of Isaiah.

  “But how can I, when a fellow warrior and friend lays right there, gone from us? What gives me the right to play upon my selfish, devastated, and broken soul to use this upon my wife when he has given the same as she has?”

  Eve sat next to the body of her friend, her hand resting upon Isaiah’s chest. She smiled as she realized he had died with such a look of completeness and peace upon his face. She patted his chest and looked up at the Vapor.

  “Nothing gives you the right, Zarius; but he would give you permission. He is with his wife and daughter now. He knows the pain and loss you are feeling, and I saw what it did to him. He would never want anyone for whom he cared to feel what he had to carry for so long.”

  She looked around at each of the team members, “I believe we all would agree that he would be the one handing it to you with his dying breath if he could.”

  There were numerous nods . . . and even tears . . . from all around as they watched Lano and Lada leave Serenity’s side and go and sit down on either side of Zarius.

  “Well, everyone may say that; but I mean, if you aren’t going to use it, I could think of many other things we could do with it!” Kadar quickly put his two cents in.

  For that, he got glares from all around.

  “I mean, I’m just throwing out suggestions!”

  “Shut up, Kadar!” Eve rolled her eyes.

  The Vapor’s hands were shaking as he tried to figure out how to open up the top of the vial. Dare he hope that the myths and stories were true? Would this bring his beloved back?

  “Hey, Big Guy, give that to me,” Chad waved his hand, motioning for Zarius to hand over the vial. “Let me help.”

  Chad took the vial and pulled out a knife from his pocket. He carefully held the body of the vial firmly in his grasp and, with the blade of the knife, hit the very top of the vial as hard as he could.

  “Chad!” Serenity yelled.

  “What?” He looked at her with a mischievous grin. “Come on! You think you would trust me by now!”

  She looked and saw that the top of the vial had been broken; but the portion within his hand was still intact, the contents safe within the glass container. She smiled and shook her head. He was crazy, but she was finding out that she did love that about him.

  He handed the bottle back. Zarius took it from him and then looked back to Leah.

  “What do I do?”

  The female Vapor shrugged, “Ha, don’t ask me. Hell, I have been carrying that thing around for ages and didn’t even have a clue as to what I had; so I, for sure, am not certain of the proper way to use it.”

  Lada put her finger out and looked up at Zarius, “Put some on my finger.”

  He shrugged. He took a hold of her finger, placed it on the top of the vial, and tipped it up. They watched as the tip of the young girl’s finger became red with the blood. Her body shivered for a moment.

  “Are you ok?” he asked her.

  “Uh-huh. It just made me tingle and made we want to laugh.”

  She quietly brushed back more of Tanisha’s hair and, with the tip of her finger, preciously touched the woman’s lips.

  “Can I do it, also?” Lano asked as he sat up on his legs. “Please?”

  Zarius quietly repeated the steps that he had done for the other twin. As he did, several drops dripped from Lano’s finger and fell onto Tanisha’s mouth. The young boy, not to be outdone by his sister, quickly touched his fingers to the archeologist’s lips.

  Everyone waited. Zarius realized he was holding his breath. He watched intently to see if there was any change in his wife, but saw nothing. He felt he had nothing to lose. He had hoped that by using just some small dabs he would have enough left over to be used on Isaiah. He looked up at Eve with pain in his eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  “Don’t be. He would be okay with this,” she smiled.

  He placed the top of the vial between Tanisha’s lips and tipped it up, pouring the rest into her mouth. As he did, a distinct change in the color of his wife’s face became evident. Her eyes began to flutter, and her chest began to rise.

  The twins squealed in glee as they watched Tanisha return from
the dead. Zarius pulled her close and sobbed . . . sobbed with tears that could only be brought on by the restoration of love and life!

  Epilogue

  “What now?”

  Leah sat down and leaned her back against the boarded-up area that had once been the front door of Eden. She looked over at Eve as she pondered her question. If she was honest, she would say she wasn’t sure. She had been asking herself that now for the last few days.

  “Well, that is a good question, Eve. Tanisha seems to be getting stronger, and it sounds as if she and Zarius may be taking the twins with them back to the desert.

  “The Sanctum crew has some rebuilding to do of their own. I spoke with Ki, and it sounds like they will not be returning to the Sanctum except to clean up and retrieve those who were slaughtered there. I think they have already found a new building that will suit their needs, but he said that the team just can’t go back to work where so many were killed.”

  “I get that,” Eve stated.

  She pulled her knees up to her chin as she looked out over the driveway.

  “What about Chad and Serenity . . . and even Victoria?”

  “I believe they will be returning with Ki and Gideon. There is still no telling what Victoria holds within her.”

  “Is it her choice to go with them?” Eve asked suspiciously. “Or are they not really giving her an option in order to see what kind of residual effect Legion had on her?”

  Leah laughed, “No, it was her choice; and if she hadn’t chosen to go with them, then I think everyone would have been ok with that, as well. It takes a while for some, but even Angels can learn from their mistakes.”

  “And you? What will you do now?”

  Leah let out a long breath.

  “I’m still trying to figure that out. Things are changing, and a new era is upon us. The way things have been done for so long is no longer the way they will be done from here on. We have Nephelium, Angels, Vapors, and even Fallen. The Brotherhood of the Watchers seems to be gone again, but I have a sneaky suspicion that we will see them again.”

  “And the Arch Council?”

  “Like I said, we are entering a new era of life and time. Gabriel and Nemamiah have asked me to return to Scintillantes and work with them on what the future looks like—the structure of it—but I just don’t think I am ready. I have offered to be a consultant of sorts for them, but I trust those two. They haven’t lived this long not to be able to figure out the flow of existence and what is needed.”

  Eve sat for a while and then spoke again, “Leah, Denora is still out there.”

  “Yes, yes, she is; but so are many others of the Clans. I suspect just as much as we are regrouping and looking to see what the future holds, they are, also. There is no way we can believe that the time of the Fallen is gone. Every bump in the night, every stolen breath of innocence, every hellish night terror or scary bedtime story will be touched by the insignia of old Clans, as well as new ones.

  “The time for a new Alliance to rise has come. The lines have blurred, but the battle lines have not. Let’s take you, for example. I know that I resented you for far too long for the choice you made to go out on your own, but I see now that you are your own woman. What you are doing—even though I may not fully understand why you do it on your own—really is not anything different than what the Alliance does.

  “In the short time I have had as a Vapor I have come to realize that no one person has it all right. We all have the right heart . . . the right desire. We are Guardians and protectors. We each need to find our own way, yet see that we are still able to come together. It wasn’t the Alliance that defeated Michael and Legion. It wasn’t the Nephelium or even the Vapors. No, it was all of us coming together for one purpose; and in that moment, we were stronger together than any of us could have been apart.”

  A car pulled up the lane and parked in front of the two of them. Eve stood up and grabbed the duffle bag sitting beside her. She offered her hand out to Leah. The Vapor took it and allowed Eve to pull her up.

  “Leah, we all have come a long way.”

  “Yes, we have; and we still have even a longer way to go.”

  “Apologies have never come easy for me, but . . .”

  Leah put her hand up.

  “Let’s not change things too much!” she laughed.

  “Fair enough.”

  Eve placed her bag in the back of the car that had come to pick her up. As she did, Leah just watched. The Nephelium was correct: they had come a long way. There was hardly any resemblance of the tattoo artist that she had sat across from at Alfonso’s café several years ago.

  “Eve?”

  The Nephelium turned and faced her, “Yeah?”

  “We have more to talk about one day, but for now I wish you nothing but the best; and if ever the time comes when you find yourself in a jam, you know you are never alone.”

  Eve smiled, “I know.”

  Leah watched the car leave the grounds of Eden. She knew there would come a time when she would have to share her secret with the former tattoo artist; but now—this moment—was not that time. No, life was changing before their eyes.

  “A mother eagle will pull the down from the nest in order to ensure that the eaglet is no longer comfortable within the nest. An eagle was meant to soar; but if he becomes comfortable in the nest, he will never soar to the heights he was meant to conquer. Fly high, Eve. Fly high!”

  Glossary

  Alliance, The —

  The Alliance originally was a group of Eternals known as the Host. The Host consisted of Eternals ranked as Guardians, Warriors, Intercessors, Messengers, or Healers.

  It was the Host who fought against the rebels in the War of the Serpents. Once the rebellion was cast down, the Host took a vow to protect mortals. They began to make themselves known to select mortals and revealed to these individuals the supernatural war that was being fought to dominate and subdue their kind.

  The joining together of the Host, the Watchers, the Jerusalem Breed, and humans brought about the need for a new name: The Alliance.

  Arch Council —

  The governing body of the Eternals. Originally, the Arch Council consisted of Lucifer, Gabriel, Michael, and Metatron. After the War of the Serpents led by Lucifer (the Morning Star), Nemamiah was chosen to replace Lucifer. The Arch Council reside upon Scintillantes.

  Azrael —

  Known as the Angel of Death. It is also the name given to Michael the Archangel by the Fallen.

  Cerberus —

  The two-headed Demon Dog of Hecate. Legend states that Cerberus actually had three heads, but this is based on myth and legend only. The twin brothers Steirbeubar and Stidoch both swore allegiance to Hecate and joined together with their possessors to form Cerberus, Hecate’s protection.

  Clan Wars —

  Shortly after the account told in The Nephelium, the Clans began to war against each other, each House not trusting the other. This became the bloodiest and violent war recorded amongst the Fallen. Many Clans were left in disarray with very few members. During this time, the Arch Council took a hands-off approach with the idea that the Clans would destroy each other. Some Clan members even branched out during the war and created their own Houses, although never recognized as true Clans.

  Deltas —

  The Deltas were formed to harness the energy of life. One delta was stolen by the Fallen during the War of the Serpents. One remained in Scintillantes. The third was made of a clear stone and was given to the Grigori. (See Grigori.) When the two ancient Deltas were placed on top of each other, point facing point, they balanced perfectly and took on the appearance of a triangular hourglass. The one given to humans was larger and intended to encase the other two, symbolizing the joining of all three.

  Dracon —

  The Order of the Dracon would give birth to the rise of one Dracul or Drăculea. Probably the most highly recognized Fallen or, at least, Vampire (the manifestation of the human mythology dealing with the Fallen), D
răculea embodied the largest collection of segments of Legion at one time since his banishment into Malebolge. It was at that time the Fallen believed they were the closest to Legion’s return; in fact, they were not far off on their assumptions.

  Dumah —

  The Brother of Mantus and guardian of the gates of Malebolge. He followed his brother’s leadership during the War of the Serpents and was exiled for his role. He then followed his brother to Malebolge when Mantus was given the realm to control. He is loyal to a fault to his brother. He has never been in control of any Clan but, instead, has chosen to exist as Mantus’ right-hand man.

  Eden —

  The physical representation of life energy and source. It is wherever Etz Chaim is (See Etz Chaim and Tree of Life.) and where the planter is. The life energy of Eden has been also known to take the form of a lady who guides those in need in their time of turmoil and trouble.

  Enoch —

  Enoch was a mortal man who was offered the opportunity by Jah to become immortal. He was taken into the realm of Scintillantes and given a new name. There, he would be known as Metatron (See Metatron.) and would take up a seat in the Arch Council, replacing the banished Morning Star.

  Eternals, The —

  Original beings brought forth from the thoughts of Jah; those whom humans have called immortals. Their existence is beyond the comprehension of the human mind, for the minds of mortals are limited in their design compared to an Eternal. The Eternals originally existed on Scintillantes.

  Etz Chaim —

  Also known as the Tree of Life. Its trunk was thick and was the deepest, darkest, and richest wood that one could imagine. The wood seemed polished with natural oils, glistening almost like glass. The branches reached out in the regal glory of natural perfection: lush with leaves that had no sign of insects or disease or lacking natural nutrients and radiant in vibrant greens. It is the source of creation and source of pure life and energy.