“Abigail!” Above me, at the rim of the vortex, I saw Sela and Gideon. Sela got hit with an arrow, and then they both fell, shrieking, onto their backs on the hard-baked ground, and I couldn’t see them anymore.
“Gideon!” I screamed as I fell deeper, until the sand was crushing in on me from all directions, and I was whirled down into the darkness.
IMMORTALITY
Gideon
“Veni, vidi, vici: I came, I saw, I conquered”
Julius Caesar
I’ve been hit.
The force of the blow knocked me flat, and my left shoulder was a node of white-hot pain. I went to pull out the arrow that had hit me, hoping to remove it before the poison on its tip had a chance to do me harm, and saw that there was no arrow. There was no wound at all.
Sela was sprawled in the sand beside me, and jutting from her shoulder was a black-feathered arrow.
I must have fallen when the arrow struck her.
Normally, I would want to think over the weirdness of a situation like that, but there wasn’t time. If I was uninjured, I had to save Abigail. I jumped into the smoking pit in the sand and shouted for her.
I hit the ground at the bottom of the whirlpool with a jarring thud. Even with my angel eyes it was too dark here for me to see. I waved my hands above me, and conjured a ball of light shaped like a half moon that feebly lit the place. Was this a cave? If so, it was enormous. I couldn’t see any evidence of the walls or ceiling. The darkness appeared to stretch in all directions without limit. All around me grew what looked like gravestones, living gravestones, with tough knotted roots that dug into the black earth. This is where death lived.
On any other day I would compliment D on the way she’d decorated the place, and possibly tease her about the decorations being a bit more effective if there were light to actually see them by. Today, the thing I noticed most about my surroundings was that Abigail was nowhere to be seen. I was scared to think of what might have happened to her.
I looked around for a way out. I knew D well, so I knew I wasn’t going to find a huge door with a flashing exit sign above it.
I made my way through the headstones, calling out to Abigail as I went. After a while I felt as though the dark, strange world was closing in. Angels didn’t have to breathe in order to survive, but for once, it felt as if I was losing my breath, and possibly my mind.
“Abigail!” I shouted more frantically, and then I heard an answer.
Hello. Anyone out there? Gideon, can you hear me? Not Abigail.
Tristan? Tristan, I can hear you. Where are you?
I’m standing on the Red Line, he answered sadly. You’re in the Underworld?
I was surprised. The Red Line?
The Red Line was the line that separated the living from the dead. Souls had to cross over it to enter the realm of death. At one time they’d had to cross a river, but D had said the river made her seasick, so she moved the border, marking it out on the ground in a line that stretched from horizon to horizon. You had to give her points for style.
Tristan, move away from that line, I warned him. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to bring him back from the line or push him over it myself, but the advice was sound either way.
I can’t. I tried. D said only someone who is alive can pull me back to the side of the living. Or I could cross over.
I swear if I find her I’m going to kill her, I thought. Then I realized how ridiculous that was. Do you remember how you got there?
No. He looked around him, and I saw through his eyes. He stood with his feet on a ghastly red line that stretched across a wide, empty field. On one side was thin, dry grass, and on the other, gray bare ground studded with headstones. D’s dog, Spot, was on the grassy side, wagging his tail. Sheesh, everybody really did like Tristan, even Spot.
I knew I had to save him, for Abigail, but I really didn’t want to. He had just made a move on my girlfriend, and I was going to pull him back from the brink of hell. I reminded myself I’d never hear the end of it from Abby and Valoel if I didn’t do this.
I’m surrounded by gravestones just like the ones behind you, I told him. I think I know how to find you. Just stay where you are, and I’ll come get you.
You’re coming to save me? Gideon, I think you’re going soft.
See what I mean? He’s a sarcastic little prat. Why is everyone so into this guy?
Don’t make me change my mind, I warned. I was saving him instead of looking for Abigail in the hope that once he was safe, we’d have a better chance of finding her, together. And then, when we’d found her, I could go back to my original plan of smashing his face in.
You came here alone? Tristan asked as I made my way toward him, knocking some of the headstones out of my way.
He had to know that wasn’t likely, or even possible, but I thought better of telling him.
Yeah. Abigail and Valoel want you alive, so… here I am, I lied. Tristan was right! I was going soft. Here I was trying to spare his feelings.
I ran and ran through what seemed like a never-ending graveyard without seeing any sign of Tristan or the Line. I began to worry that I was going in circles.
Maybe I should just cross over, and—
Don’t you dare! What would that accomplish? Just hang on. I came here to save you and I’m not leaving until I do.
I should have stopped and slap myself for saying this, but I plodded on, kicking up clouds of gray dust. It was going to be impossible to get that stuff out of my clothes. I tried to concentrate on that, and on Abigail being lost, and on my pain and Sela’s wound. Keeping my mind going helped me to keep my feet going.
Can you feel that? Tristan broke through my thoughts, and I could tell that he was almost hopeful.
At first I had no idea what he was talking about, but then I felt it. I felt his presence, and knew that he felt mine.
I think I can find you, I said with renewed energy, and I started heading toward the pull of Tristan’s presence. Finally, up ahead, I saw the edge of the clearing, and there was Tristan, standing on the Red Line. To my surprise, I was actually happy to see him.
You found me. Now I’m positive you like me, Tristan teased. He fluttered his lashes at me. “My hero!” Maybe I wasn’t so happy to see him.
Don’t psychoanalyze this, I said as I headed toward him. Before I could reach him, a scream stopped me.
There are often screams in this place, but this one was different. It sounded thin and insubstantial. I saw that high above Tristan a tiny figure had appeared, suspended in midair. It was wriggling up there, as though it were struggling against something.
Spot followed my gaze and saw the figure, too. And he barked.
This figure was a living being.
“Abigail!” I shouted when I recognized her. Her hands were tied behind her with invisible bonds, and every inch of her was bruised and bloodied. Before I could fly up to her, she disappeared.
“Gideon, was that Abigail?” Tristan asked, and never in my life I’ve I heard him sound so scared. “Is she OK? What’s going on?”
“Yes, and don’t move” I said aloud. I was about to offer him my hand when Abigail reappeared.
Her disappearance and reappearance could only mean one thing. “Cut the crap, D. I know you’re there.”
D appeared beside Abigail, who was struggling to free herself. I charged at her, but she vanished, only to reappear behind me.
“Gideon, nice of you to drop in,” D said with a seductive grin on her lips.
“D, let them go.”
She laughed, “I must say, Gideon, I never imagined this day would come. You’re not happy to see me. You’re trying to save Tristan, and even trying to save a human.” She laughed again, and her voice filled me with rage. I knew she was trying to keep me from rescuing Tristan, so I turned from her and went back to him. Abigail started shrieking in pain, stopping me in my tracks.
D’s whispered close in my ear, saying, “You move, and I keep torturing h
er.”
“I swear, D, if I—”
She cut me off. “You’ll what?” She reached out a hand to Spot, who stopped barking and rolled over at her feet, hoping for a belly rub. “I can’t let you save Tristan, and I can’t let this human go, because, well, torturing her is kind of fun. Care to try?”
I was now standing between Abigail and Tristan, both within reaching distance, but I knew D wasn’t joking, so I didn’t move.
“What the hell do you want?” I couldn’t think how I was going to save Abigail and Tristan, and tried to buy myself time by keeping D talking.
“War,” D answered simply. “I want a war. I’m tired of doing the same thing day after day. I lead souls here to the Underworld and make sure that they cross over. It’s boring. It’s always the same, and it’s been the same for longer than anyone can remember. I want my freedom. I want to die and get my happy ending.”
Keep her talking. “Here’s an idea. Why don’t you go look for a new freaking job?”
“I’m bound to this job as long as those stupid humans exist.”
“What has Tristan got to do with this stupid plan of yours? The human race was around a long time before he was born.”
“I need Tristan out of the way. I need the Lumenians out of the way. I can’t have them trying to save the humans when I try to destroy them all.”
I launched a fireball at D while she was busy telling me her plans, hoping to catch her by surprise. It hit her in the chest and sent her crashing backward. While she was down I rushed over to Tristan.
But D saw me. “Stop!” she shouted when I reached out to pull Tristan from the line. At the sound of her voice, Abigail started screaming, even louder than before. “Stop or I’ll kill her!” There was no remorse in D’s voice, and I knew her well enough to know that she meant what she said.
“Let’s make this more interesting, shall we?” she asked with a smirk. She moved Abigail’s levitated body toward me. “I’ll let you save one of them. But only one. You have to decide, and either choice you make falls in my favor.”
I wanted to ask her what would happen if I were to save Tristan and not Abigail, but I knew the answer. I’d personally help D destroy the world if I lost Abigail. D was right: whatever choice I made, I would lose.
“I’ll give you a hint,” she said. “Two lives you hold. Choose for blood and save one, or choose for pride and lose them both.”
I replayed D’s words in my head.
“English, D! What the hell is that supposed to mean?” All D answered with was laughter.
If I were told to choose between Tristan and Abigail when I was first assigned to them, I’d have chosen neither. If I’d had to choose between them last week, I’d have chosen Abigail. Now? I just didn’t know. Whatever choice I made would haunt me forever.
Abigail finally spoke, and her voice was a tiny whisper. “Gideon, save—” Abigail didn’t finish what she wanted to say because D snapped her fingers and tied her mouth shut.
“D, don’t.” I tried to move but she shook her head, and Abigail screamed even more loudly. I wouldn’t have thought that was even possible.
“Stop this!” Tristan shouted. “D, Please, stop. I’m begging you, Please, don’t hurt her anymore. I’ll cross over!”
“No, Tristan, don’t you dare!” My eyes met Tristan’s for half of a second, but I couldn’t tell what was behind them. And then, without another word, he stepped over the Red Line and disappeared. I shouted, “Tristan, no!” But it was too late. He was already gone.
“D, you—” I started, but before I could utter another word, I crashed onto my back. Abigail screamed, and the graveyard started burning.
HEAVEN CAN WAIT
“Make no mistake, when the trumpets sound.
I won’t be among the people running, praying, or crying.
I’ll be the one who looks up and yells,
‘Shut the hell up, and get it over with!’.”
Tristan was really gone. Tristan was really gone.
No time to think about it. Abigail still needed me, and the ground all around us had erupted in flames. Off to my left, I heard Valoel’s voice.
“Calista, let her go!” Valoel shouted, and never had she sounded so dangerous.
Calista?
I turned to see Valoel striding purposefully toward D. When I saw her, my mouth fell open. My stupid little sister was tall and fierce, and flames dripped from her fingertips like water. I gathered that was where the spreading wildfire all around us came from.
“Madalong,” D said casually, as if greeting an old friend. “Nice of you to finally show up.”
Madalong? What the hell was going on?
I didn’t recognize my sister’s voice when she spoke because it sounded so cruel. “Don’t make me repeat myself, Calista”
“What are you going to do? Kill me? We both know you can’t,” D said with a wicked smile.
“You make me tell you one more time to let her go, and you’ll wish you could be killed.”
The person who said that still had a teddy bear next to her pillow in her room.
“Put her down, you say?” D asked.
Suddenly Abigail was falling, and with bound hands couldn’t brace for the fall. I was about to rush over and save Abigail, when Valoel stopped Abigail’s body in midair and encased her in a shimmering ball of light. She then whipped a jet of flame at D that drove her back among the headstones. I started to rush over to Abigail, but Valoel pushed me back.
“She’s unconscious. This place is no sight for mortal eyes. The light will protect her. D cannot get through it. Neither can you. Stay back. It will burn you,” Valoel told me.
The sphere in which Abigail floated lit the whole clearing. I could suddenly see a number of things very clearly by its unwavering light.
I started to see the truth, that Valoel was Madalong, daughter of the Elders, powerful and eternal. I wanted to ask her why she and my parents had hidden her true identity from me. Did this mean my parents were the Elders? I had a lot of questions, but I knew now wasn’t the time to ask them. Frankly, I probably wouldn’t like the answers.
Valoel looked around her. “Where are we?”
“Are you sure you want to know, Madalong?” Valoel’s real name felt foreign on my tongue. I was angry that I had been duped. “You lied to me. You’ve been lying to me for years.”
“Moon, I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you, I did.”
I shouted at her. “Gideon! My name is Gideon!”
“Gideon, then. I know how you might be feeling, but now is not the time. Tell me: where is Tristan?”
I looked down at my feet.
“Where is Tristan?” she demanded again. “Gideon, answer me!”
“He…” I pointed to the Red Line. “I tried to save him.”
“Tried?” Valoel asked me with pain filling her voice. “Gideon, you’ve just watched your twin brother die!”
“I did what I could…wait, what? Brother?” I could barely speak the words. “Twin brother?”
“I told you. I told you could choose for blood!” D had made her way back to us, and her face shone with happiness.
Someone definitely owed me answers. “Twins?” If we were twins, it would mean that Tristan and I were Sun and Moon, and that was why the angels said we were the reason the world was balanced. Tristan was Sun, and I was Moon. And at the moment, it seemed the world would have to live without its Sun for quite some time.
Valoel wiped her tears and said, “Calista, it’s me you want to hurt. Take me in exchange for Tristan.”
“Or me,” I offered. “I’m his twin. Take me instead.”
Did I just say that?
“No I can’t take you, because my dear friend, you are about to win me a war.”
I’m not proud of this, but in the midst of hearing that the universe could be coming to an end, I actually had a second in which I was pissed that it wasn’t my idea.
D giggled like a schoolgirl, �
��Oh, Madalong, taking Tristan wasn’t even the best part.” She snapped her fingers, and her clipboard appeared. I’d seen it many times before, and I knew it carried the names, places, and dates of the souls who were about to die.
“Right here,” D said, turning the clipboard out so that we could read the forms on it, “this says Abigail Cells will die in exactly thirteen days. Tristan crossed over to save this little mortal, and she was already doomed anyway.” D’s laughter grew louder and more sinister. “Now, Madalong, let’s sit back and watch as your little brother destroys the world for me.”
I had heard there comes a moment in everyone’s life when one wants to speak but the words won’t come. In that moment, one would give up anything just to manage a simple shake of the head, or even a whisper.
This was not one of those moments.
“Over my dead body!” I yelled, and then I lunged for D. She twisted out of the way just in time. I flew past her and the ground shook as I slammed onto it.
Rage filled my body as I shot back into the air. I turned in circles, searching for D. When I finally caught a glimpse of her, I launched a fireball, but before the flames could explode on her back, she stopped it and turned the flames into smoke. I watched D, aghast, as she turned and fled into the darkness.
Thoughts of betrayal flooded my mind and wrenched my heart as I gave way to chasing her fading figure deeper into the darkness.
Far off, at the edge of the clearing, I heard muffled sounds of fighting. I knew the battle had begun in earnest, and that it was moving closer. D wanted an ending. She wanted a war. I heard the distant call of the battle horns, and knew that she would get it.
End of Part I: The story continues in Elysium, coming soon.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Wow. I wrote a book, a goddamn book, like a real one! I feel like I just won an Oscar or two! Wow.
Ok, put the spotlight on me please, cue the applause and let’s get this show on the road!
Dominion (Re-edition) Page 29