by Jacob Rundle
“Abuelita?” Etlina screamed inside her head.
“Sí, mi amor. Estoy aquí. What is the matter?” her Abuelita replied to Etlina’s cry for help.
“Abuelita, I don’t know what to do. So much relies on the three of us, and now, we are placed on hold because of this stupid wall. I don’t know what this inscription means!” Etlina couldn’t keep all of her emotions to herself. Having the fate of the universe wasn’t an easy task, and the pressure was more than she thought.
“Mi amor, allow me to help you. What does the inscription say?”
“It says Saltate Cum Flamma. What does that mean?”
“Child, hear me now. Feel the words. You are a very powerful young woman. Your intuition is the best that I have seen.” Etlina took a moment to think about her abuelita’s words.
Etlina connected her magic with the magic of the wall. She prayed that she’d get even the slightest bit of information about how to get through the door.
She calmed her mind, and she used her inner sight to visualize the subatomic structure of the wall. She created a psychic link between every atom of the wall and her mind. And, suddenly, the answer came to her; she had to dance with the flames.
Etlina willed every connected atom of the wall to combust, and as the atomic explosions erupted and released massive amounts of heat and energy, she redirected the destructive flames towards the wall, blowing it into a million pieces with debris spreading in all directions.
She stood in the wake of her power, and she fully realized her potential. Etlina realized that she was a force to be reckoned.
“Etlina, what the?” Henri dodged the pieces of wall, flying at them.
“I danced with the flames,” she replied, having the biggest smile on her face.
CHAPTER 30
SECRET CHAMBER
KALI’S TEMPLE
“Well, if they didn’t know that we were here before… they sure do now.” Siméon was in shock at Etlina’s power, and he understood now why her grandmother did what she did in restricting her abilities. A little child with that much power was a liability.
“Let them find us,” Etlina responded with confidence. They continued down the passageway that had been hidden behind the wall.
They made their way to the end of the passageway, which was the entryway into an even bigger chamber. Each of them looked around the room to see if there were any clues as to what or where the item was located. They separated in order to venture to different corners of the room. Henri looked back at the other two, and he could still see their torches.
He strolled around to find nothing of note. Henri was getting agitated at the situation. He was tired of constantly being frustrated at not finding what they needed. He began to doubt the severity of the cosmic situation.
“This is getting tiresome. I remember all that I have been told. I remember the Ancestors, Metatron, and my father. Why couldn’t one of them tell me what I am looking for?” he pondered, trying to settle his nerves.
“Because it is called a destiny for a reason, and if we all do the work for you then it wouldn’t be your path. It would be ours,” a voice spoke from the darkness.
The darkness was too thick for Henri to see, leaving him defenseless. He tried to bring forth the power of the glyphs, but he failed to do so.
“Can’t see me? Well, I guess you aren’t the Seer, or should I say, Augur?” The voice made its way closer to Henri, yet he still was not able to see anyone.
“Who are you? Show yourself. Be a man!” Henri commanded the voice, feeling stupid for using a cliché statement.
The voice chuckled at Henri’s empty threats.
“A man? Are you going to show me how to be a man, boy? Allow me to show you what a true path walker is.” Henri felt a wave of coldness fall upon his body, numbing his entire self. Seconds passed, and Henri was completely immobile. He could feel all the positive emotions he possessed be stripped away from him, leaving nothing but fear, hate and anger.
“What’s wrong? Can’t you move?” the voice taunted Henri. It seemed to enjoy playing off on Henri’s fears.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am the one you spied upon. My brethren and I are the ones entrusted with the treasure of the Divine Mother, and we won’t give it up without a fight.”
“Aquarian?” Henri mumbled since his lips were frozen shut.
“Indeed, boy,” Aquarian replied.
Henri stood frozen in horror and trepidation. His fear of the dark was playing against him with Aquarian. Even though he could not move, he continued to try to get free from Aquarian’s hold.
“I am not called the Master of Shadows for no reason, young one,” Aquarian threatened. He finally saw the master of shadows, and his appearance was frightening. He was a tall, lanky male with powder-white skin, resembling someone who hadn’t seen sunlight in millennia. His eyes were as black as night, and his fingers had a long, sharpened appearance. He was a walking nightmare. Henri thought that he resembled a spider-humanoid.
Henri still couldn’t move any part of my body, and the wards in this chamber were blocking his abilities. He realized that his thoughts wavered his attention and focus.
“They can’t see or hear you, boy. You are enveloped in my complete shadow, my darkness. No one or nothing gets out of it,” Aquarian continued to threaten Henri. He walked over to him and examined the youngster.
“So, this is the gifted Augur? We despise you, Piscien and I. It should have been us picked for this path.” He placed his hand onto Henri’s cheek, remembering what it was like to have blood coursing through his veins. He rubbed his fingers over Henri’s lips. “Now, you may speak. A warning, if you scream, I will crush you within the blink of an eye.”
“We didn’t pick this destiny, Aquarian. It was chosen for us. No one wants to be the one who destroys the world,” Henri answered.
“We were chosen by Kali herself to hide and to protect her Scimitar,” Aquarian countered. “And we swore an oath to her. Had we known that it meant to spend eternity locked away from our world, battling every single person who came to find her treasure, I would have denied her. Destiny is fickle. What are you going to do when you lose it all?” Aquarian laughed solemnly at the idea of the Destined failing. His tears were symbolic of everything that had been taken from him in the few millennia he had spent in the temple. Henri thought that Aquarian must have lost his family, friends or even a lover.
“Well, if you give us the scimitar then we can be on our way, and you and Piscien are then free.” Henri knew that it was a long shot, but he thought that he was smarter than Aquarian.
Aquarian had a dark smirk on his face, and he responded to Henri’s attempt to barter. “An oath is an oath. We will continue to protect the scimitar. However, now that you and your friends have made an easy exit, Piscien and I will leave this place, and we will use the scimitar to take down the Hinax. I will kill anyone and everyone if I have to.”
“I heard you say that name before… who or what are the hinax?” Henri desperately wanted more information out of Aquarian, but he wasn’t the best investigator.
“Oh, you know the hinax. They are the ones who haunt your nightmares. They’re the ones who will devour everything. They will destroy your world as they did mine.”
Henri couldn’t believe that he saw a human side of Aquarian; the one who wanted him dead.
“If I knew who the hinax were then I wouldn’t be asking you.” Henri struggled to free himself of Aquarian’s shadow.
“Who do you think you are trying to prevent their awakening?” Aquarian asked rhetorically.
Henri’s nightmare had come true. The things that he saw in his visions. The monster that killed Tim Stevenson in that church – The Hinax. The fear and panic flowed throughout Henri, and it seeped into the room. Aquarian reveled in his misery.
“Etlina!” Henri screamed to get his friend’s attention, but no one could hear him. Aquarian’s dome of shadow was airtight.
Aquarian had an insidious laugh that ec
hoed through the temple.
“Do you think that they are coming to save you?”
He walked around Henri, playing the predator-prey scenario. Aquarian drew back the darkness of the room into his palm, revealing the hidden depths that surrounded them. He used his shadow to force Henri’s head to twist to see Piscien battling Siméon.
“Where is Etlina? Where is she? You better not touch her!” Henri remembered that the wards in the room had been blocking his power, but he still desired to free himself. Siméon and Etlina’s lives were at stake. He sought deep into his soul for the inner light. He wanted to find even just a single glyph that would help him.
Henri saw someone that resembled Siméon in the corner of his eye, but he couldn’t get a full view now. Finally, he was able to catch sight of Etlina, but she was lying on the ground unconscious.
“Screw it!” Henri furthered his search within himself for the light. He prayed to anyone who was listening, “Ancestors… Kali…. anyone!”
Within the darkness of the void, Henri was deep within his subconscious. He was swimming in a deep pool of thoughts and memories. In the distance, he saw a bright blue light, radiating hope and power. He swam towards the brilliance of potential.
“Ancestors, please hear me. I know that you aren’t allowed to interfere, but please, if you don’t help then Siméon and Etlina will die!’ Henri gave his everything in the moment. He let all his guards and fears down so that anyone who answered would understand the severity of the situation.
The blue light shot itself at Henri, targeting him directly. He didn’t notice the light until it made contact with his body. The luminousness contacted every cell in Henri’s mind, body and spirit.
Henri’s mind elevated far beyond human comprehension, receiving unknown messages from faraway places, ancient languages and creeds. He saw the entirety of the universe in the blink of an eye, yet understood all its complexities.
The past, present and future became a human concept, and there was no longer a distinction between the three. Henri saw the creation of the universe and its destruction side-by-side. He finally grasped Metatron’s words in the church the day that he met him.
Aquarian’s snarky, sinister laugh brought Henri back to reality. The light flooded over Henri’s body, negating the effects of Aquarian’s shadow magic. The master of shadows took notice of Henri’s cosmic transformation, and he tightened his shadow around him.
“Not going to work anymore, Aquarian.”
Aquarian saw the bright blue celestial light laminating from Henri’s eyes. A giant, familiar symbol appeared in front of Aquarian, paralyzing him and negating his shadow workings.
“Aquarian, the time has come to pay your ticket.” Henri’s blue glyphs neutralized Aquarian’s shadow, shredding his dark tentacles into nothing.
Henri called forth power from the ancient people, who granted him the power, and a glorious blue sigil appeared in the room. His glyphs embedded on the outer linings of the mystical art piece with new, potent designs occupying the center.
The glyphs absorbed energies from their current surroundings, outside, and the stars and planets. When Henri knew that the sigil was at the pinnacle of its power, he directed every ounce of energy at Aquarian.
Aquarian wasn’t able to hide behind the darkness of the room any longer. The light irradiated every darkness particle of Aquarian’s magic, thrusting him against the wall. The beam’s strength overpowered Aquarian’s defenses, and he became nothing more than particles of dust.
Without any strength left, Henri fell to the ground out of pure exhaustion. He was too weak to raise his head to see Etlina running over to him. Henri lost the cosmic level of awareness after his attack, but he was left with the knowledge of the side effects of his gift; a conversation that he would keep from Siméon and Etlina.
“Henri, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just drained is all,” he lied to Etlina, moving the conversation along.
“Is he dead?” Etlina asked at the sight of the possibly dead Aquarian.
“I hope so,” Henri explained. Neither of them saw any remnants of Aquarian.
Henri was relieved that Aquarian’s nightmare was over.
“So, that was Aquarian?”
“Yeah, that was he. He calls himself the Master of Shadows. That was close. I couldn’t move at all. But somehow, he controlled the darkness in the room, and he used it to make me a human puppet.” Henri knew that he would be scared for the rest of his life. He had never killed anyone before.
“We have to help, Siméon. Let’s go!” Etlina told Henri. They turned and attempted to make their way to their friend, but they were stopped in their tracks, seeing that Siméon didn’t need any assistance. Henri grabbed Etlina, and they hurried to help Siméon. They stopped in their tracks when Henri noticed Siméon’s transformation.
“Is that Siméon?” Henri asked Etlina.
“Yeah. Siméon is able to channel the energies of his guardian spirit, remember?” Henri was amazed at the sight of Ogou. His presence was phenomenal. His swiftness and tenacity. Ogou’s fiery, warrior presence filled the room, and Henri was glad that Ogou was on his side.
The epic battle between Piscien and Ogou continued in front of Henri and Etlina. Both warriors moved with precise speed, and they had the strategic fortitude of an imperial knight. Ogou sliced his flaming twin-blades at Piscien, but Piscien maneuvered as though he was made of water. Piscien revealed his humanoid-form, allowing him to blend into the air molecules in the air.
“Hiding? Signs of a weak and scared warrior, Piscien,” scoffed Ogou. He examined the room for Piscien, but he had difficulty. Ogou was aware that Henri and Etlina were watching him battle with Piscien. The human side of Ogou smiled and winked at Henri.
Ogou wondered if Piscien had surrendered since he had no trace of his whereabouts. It wasn’t until droplets of water fell from the ceiling onto Ogou that he realized that Piscien didn’t surrender, but rather he was strategizing.
“Not quite, young Haitian,” a voice that resembled Piscien responded to Ogou’s unverified idea of his surrender. The chamber was completely covered in darkness, not even Ogou’s divine aura could brighten the room, and he was frozen. Ogou efforts to release himself were futile.
Henri sensed that Piscien and Aquarian had similar fighting patterns. He wondered if they were trained in the same place. Even though the room was blanketed in darkness, Henri hoped his sight would work and allow him to see everything in the room.
“It must be Aquarian. It must have been a trick; he didn’t die.” Henri was worried that there was no way to kill these guardians.
“Not this time.” Etlina chanted her ancestral words of power to release the shadow in the room, but she too was unsuccessful. The ancient magic over-powered Etlina’s abilities.
“This can’t be happening. We can’t see anything,” Henri was done with dealing with the guardian twins.
“I can’t release the shadow in the room. Who or what is this guy?” Etlina heard Ogou’s grunts and groans.
“Siméon is in danger. Etlina, I have an idea.” Henri suggested to Etlina, “I want you to magnify my sight. If you are able to do that then maybe I will be able to surpass the darkness of the chamber to see where Aquarian is hiding.”
“That could work, Henri.” She didn’t really like Henri’s idea, but they didn’t have another plan. She placed the palm of her hand on his forehead, and she closed her eyes. She connected with Henri’s inner self, and she chanted words that were even unfamiliar to her, “Řóš… řóš… řóš.”
Etlina became a living amplifier for Henri, and he was able to break past the darkness to see the entire chamber in his mind’s eye. The amplified power from Etlina lifted Henri off the ground, suspending him in the air. Henri encircled his prey just as Aquarian had done to him.
“Etlina, I want you to allow me to channel your power now.”
“Wait…why?” She knew that Henri wasn’t ready for such power, and she didn
’t know how it would affect his mind or body.
“Because Siméon needs our help, and I am the only one who can see past Aquarian’s darkness spell.” He sensed her hesitation.
“Okay, but I warn you, Henri. Ancestral power is intended for that lineage,” Etlina responded, positioning herself to channel. She summoned her true power, channeling it into Henri. This was the first time that Henri had connected to every single thing on the planet. “Etlina, you are connected to everything. How do you handle that?”
“We can discuss that later, Henri. Now, find Aquarian.” She allowed Henri to use her power to find the guardian. He had found the source of her power and images of strong individuals flew through his mind. He perceived that they were Etlina’s ancestors.
He channeled her family’s magic to an unbelievable level, and Henri sensed Aquarian’s hiding spot. He targeted Aquarian, and he threw him against the wall, breaking his hold over Ogou whose mangled body plummeted to the ground.
“No!” Henri rushed over to his fallen partner. Thoughts of loss and loneliness clouded Henri’s attention.
“That is all you have for me? Well, allow me to show you how it is properly done.” Aquarian focused on Siméon’s body, and Aquarian lifted him with the wave of his hand.
“No!”
Aquarian smirked at Henri, and with a simple snap of his fingers, he broke every bone in Siméon’s body. Siméon cried out in agony. The sounds of breaking bones and snapping tendons were the worst sounds that Henri had ever heard in his life. Henri couldn’t lose Siméon for he was Henri’s ray of hope.
“Now, that is how it is done. You know, I am quite disappointed with the skill level of the supposed Destined.” Aquarian commanded the darkness in the room back to the palm of his hand.
Henri fought his anger and rage. He wanted to kill Aquarian. He was tired of seeing the people, whom he loved, getting hurt. He grabbed Etlina’s hand, and he once again channeled her ancestral power.
“Henri, do not do this. Your emotions are too erratic, and you are not ready for power like this,” she pleaded to him, but he didn’t listen, and he held onto her with fierce tenacity. He wanted Aquarian’s blood for hurting Siméon.