She pushed the base of the small light between Danielle’s palms and quickly left her, tied up tight, before she could try to persuade her to do more.
She listened to her footsteps as they faded on the walk, taking the last bit of comfort that she could from Anna’s company. When she heard no other sounds outside that might indicate someone was watching the door, she put her thumbs on the button of the cold metal shaft. Part of her wanted to illuminate her surroundings so she could ascertain her safety, but another part was afraid of what might lurk in the shadows of such a magical and ancient place.
Taking a deep breath, she clicked on the slender light, and it was instantly swallowed up by the surrounding darkness. The room she was in was more expansive than she had imagined it could be, and she carefully tried to set the instrument on the flagstones next to her while she wriggled against her bonds. It rolled a few feet away, and she was forced to lie down next to it so she could see what she was doing as she worked her hands inside her woolen over coat.
When she had been made to dress at the village she’d pulled the gifted clothing on over her nightdress, affecting modesty, but she knew she had to do her best to keep the shard of rock with her if she could manage to. It was still there in the side pocket, if she could just reach the sharpened sliver. She placed her fingers together in a steeple, half praying and half panting as she worked her way into the hidden recess.
The rope was tight, and her fingers were already beginning to go numb at the tips, so she had little time to pull the rock free and brace it firmly between her knees. Once in place, it was just a matter of time before she was able to cut through one strand and undo Anna’s work.
She massaged the palms of her hands once they were free, trying to increase the circulation to her extremities though they tingled painfully. When she could hold the weapon firmly, she did the same with her ankles and gladly kicked free the loose rope as it fell away.
Danielle picked up the flashlight and stood for a moment, feeling a little disoriented as she walked toward the door. Her light swept widely across the floor in great arcs so she could make sure the floor stones were secure as she progressed.
As she neared the exit, the dim glow caught a flash of brilliant blue on the wall next to the door, and her attention was diverted to the color. Instead of leaving the room, she stepped to the side and set the small beam on the wall.
The mural that she revealed under the narrow pinpoint was astonishing in its intricacy, and she was immediately drawn to the story it was created to tell.
Vast ocean waves nearly came to life under her scrutiny, a clear blue-green that was full of brilliant sea creatures as it lapped playfully at the shores of an island paradise. The sun shone forever at the hand of this talented artist, and she could almost hear the seagulls and smell the salty air as the warm breeze caressed her skin.
A great city loomed at the crest of the tallest mountain on the isle, with sparkling spires that tapered toward the sky with a delicate and perfect architecture that could only be described as fantastical in her day and age. Images of huge birds circled the walkways which connected the city, far above the land, and as she moved in for a closer look she was amazed to see that they were not birds at all. The floating renditions resembled small airplanes, hovering in place forever around the city so beautifully rendered before her.
She blinked once or twice, as the tiny hovering aircraft began to swirl in a holding pattern around the greatest spire in the center of the mural. Somehow, and she was not sure how this was possible, the warm orange sun glinted off the shapely taper at the tallest part of the tower. The sound of the ocean waves echoed throughout the tomb-like crypt they had intended for her prison, but she felt more free and alive than ever she had in her entire life.
Danielle reached her shaking fingers toward the brilliant blue water that broke with a teasing white edge inside a deep green lagoon, and as her skin made contact with the cold stone and ancient paint she stifled a gasp when the warm waters of the painting swept over her wrist in the exact rhythm of the pounding waves. She resisted the pull of the tide, testing the waters by removing her fingers, but a part of her soul wanted to be carried in to the shore of the surreal city.
In some way she couldn’t explain, the mural in front of her was telling her of the island’s forgotten history, showing her with an age old magic that her own people must have lost long ago.
Were they my people? Is this where I come from?
Danielle should have been afraid of the strange illusion, but she felt she had come far enough along on their strange journey to open her mind and believe in things she had never thought possible before.
This is where we lived before we came here…
The eerie, disembodied voice sent chills flying up her spine, and she had to resist the instant urge to bolt from the inner chamber, screaming into the night and revealing her hard won freedom to the people above.
“Who lived there?” Her mouth dared to form the words but no sound came with her efforts.
We all did, you and I. Our time had passed long before the reckoning, but still we held on at this place. Now you have come to take us home. Complete the balance so that our people may be free.
“Listen, I’m pretty sure I’m from Brooklyn, all right?”
You do not remember, I see. Too much time has passed. Let me show you.
A heavy, white vapor had been circling the frame of the door during her discourse with the damned, but Danielle had not paid it much attention because it was a common occurrence in the region.
The mist gathered and began to solidify before her eyes, and Danielle was reminded at once of the dream where she stood in the market square and the ether on the ground had taken shape all around her.
The vapor coalesced into a tall, lithe woman dressed in what looked like roman clothing, but the fabric held a tint of sky blue, and Danielle was clearly able to make out the golden shimmer of the jewelry wrapped around her arms next to her perfect porcelain skin.
She was beautiful beyond description, flawless and graceful even in an ethereal form. Surely a race like that wouldn’t last long in the harsh, northern mountains of Peru.
And we did not. When the sea turned against us and wiped away almost all that we possessed, we sought the highest peak in the driest land, and here is where we came to rest. But the water was our life and without it we slowly began to fall victim to the primitive races around us.
“I don’t know what you think I can do for you, but I would certainly do it if I thought I was capable!” Danielle spoke with an edgy tone, pacing a little in the entryway and sending ripples through the shapely mist which made up her visitation.
Take my hand. You will know what to do when the time arrives for us.
The ghostly apparition reached for her, and when she made contact with Danielle’s skin, she felt buoyant and suddenly free. She looked down with alarm and realized her feet were no longer touching the ground, and she panicked.
“What have you done to me? Am I dead?”
You are in between. You have been here before, so do not be afraid. Come with me, and I will show you.
They drifted out onto the ledge and followed the roughly hewn stairs to the very top where she hesitated. The mask was laying on the altar in full view, and Anna was standing directly in front of it, trembling.
They cannot see you as long as I have your hand. You must take your place, now. The time is near.
They walked among the living who had gathered in anticipation. Cataya sat curled up in a ball near the edge of the platform as the ancient spirit led Danielle directly toward the mask.
“Damn you, Anna,” Britton snarled and grabbed the terrified girl by the nape of her neck. “Put the mask on and seek out the golden artifact that pairs with it.”
Danielle found herself just inches away from the beautiful, glowing relic, and she knew then exactly what she was meant to do. She must wear the mask to locate its match, but it was much more than that. S
he couldn’t find it if she couldn’t find him, and she was certain that somewhere out there Jake Wilde waited for her, that the world waited for her to complete the balance and set the earthbound ancients free.
The moment the thought rang true in her heart the supernatural figure released her fingers with a nod, and she felt heavy and solid again…and unbelievably vulnerable.
“Wait!” she cried out, not prepared for the change.
Everyone on the platform turned to her with a look of disbelief, and rage twisted Britton’s handsome features as he turned on Anna.
“You stupid girl, you fail at everything!”
“Leave her alone,” Danielle demanded with unflinching authority, reaching for the silver mask, her fingers just hovering over the glimmering metal. Britton turned to her with his full attention, his face wary as he tried to control his emotions.
“Don’t do it, Danielle. I have special plans for the magic we unleash tonight, and whether or not you believe my words, I wanted you at my side all along. Anna has been disposable from the start, but I knew you were far more important the moment you entered my office and I saw your lovely face.”
He took a few deceptive steps forward, and she put out her left hand in warning, the other still near the mask on the altar.
“If you make one more move, I will put it on and everything you have planned will be for nothing. I want you to let the girls go right now, and then we can discuss a reasonable solution to all of this so no one gets hurt.”
“Set them free,” he said to the armed men behind him with forced cheerfulness, but she saw him motion behind his back, and a cold feeling of foreboding caused the hair on the back of her neck to rise. “Think of the things we can do together, Danielle. We could rule the world and change the fate of mankind for the better. There will be a new world order, and things will finally be the way they were meant to be.”
“And who will decide how things are meant to be? I shudder to think you can only mean yourself. I am more than serious, Britton. Let them go. I know how to use this, and I think you are aware of it by now.”
“And I, on the other hand, think you’re bluffing,” he sneered.
The moonlight crested the top of the mountain peak and fell onto the altar with a supernatural light. Danielle saw the apparition appear again out of the corner of her eye, and the graceful figure had one hand on Cataya, while the fingers of her free hand sought Anna’s arm. It was all she needed to know, and when Britton dove for her feet at the base of the altar, she took the mask up in the full silver light and put it on without hesitation.
“Wait!” Britton called out, but his words sounded heavy and meaningless as his movements were slowed by the normal world he still stood in. Before she lost touch with her surroundings, she saw them come…the shadow warriors who had saved her at the camp. She had no fear of them, only a commanding respect as they each acknowledged her presence and bent to one knee on the platform before her.
The Englishman still reached for her, but his grasp was infinitely slowed as she slipped between his dimension and the realm of the mystical. The look of horror on his face as the loyal warriors pulled him into the shadows was not gratifying. Danielle felt the shift as he entered the realm of darkness. He had located the power he sought, though he would never return to the land of light in order to use it. She noticed without emotion the guide and the porters scurried into the night like frightened mice while the mercenaries were effortlessly taken up to join their leader on the dark side of the Balance. She was aware the Balance would be maintained, that those with dark intentions would reap their rewards and those with innocent hearts would win their freedom as they scattered into the hills.
Those small occurrences weren’t anything to her at all now, because she was the instrument of the end and of the beginning… and it was too late to change her mind.
Danielle felt them all around her, the souls of the many who longed to be free. She stood at the top of the pyramid among them but she was finally alone, and she knew exactly who she was as her soul filled with pure, silver light.
The processional fires danced in their braziers below her feet, and the ethereal figures gathered on the square to lend her their blessings as they had always done, so she could complete the Balance.
She saw the spark of him in the great distance as he descended from his own place in the heavens, his golden mask as warm as the sun with the promise of new life for their people.
Just as the chalice of her soul had filled with the magic of the balance, her heart leapt at the sight of his figure, and it was this true destiny of love that guided her toward his position.
The elegant, ghostly figures in the market square wept as she swept by them, even then shielding their ethereal eyes against the brilliance of her passing. The arching stone bridge was just ahead, and the sound of the water beneath rushed through her veins like her life blood and she knew she had to stand upon it.
She knew she would find him there.
The mist was thick over the water, but she stepped onto the bridge as if she had done it a thousand times before. She couldn’t see anything, but her heart carried her to the center point at the pinnacle of the arch.
“Jake,” she called his name and stretched her hand into the fog, her fingers reaching for any type of contact.
Her heart pounded with the need to be at his side, and she promised herself that if they had another chance she would share everything she was with him, with no more hesitation or doubt.
“Danielle!” His voice was near, and he came through the thickest part of the fog to catch her in his arms as the tears began to fall from her eyes.
“I love you, Jake.” The words tore from her lips before she planned it, and she was not ashamed to say them. “I can’t wait another minute to be with you, to be a part of you, in every way I can. If you can’t give me that, if you can’t make love to me right now, I’ll die and be glad of it.”
“There aren’t words enough to tell you what I feel for you.” He tenderly wiped the tears from her face with soft fingertips. “For so long now, I’ve been trying to find some way to be worthy of your heart, and I’ve come to the conclusion that all I have to give you is…me. But if you’ll accept me as I am, I promise you’ll have my love every minute of every day, for the rest of our lives.”
Danielle took his arms and slid them around her waist, trying to feel his heart beat as she pulled his mouth to her lips.
“The masks!” She suddenly realized the truth of their absence, running her fingers over his handsome face in wonder. “They’re gone.”
“The masks were only a small part of this. In a way, Majers was right about the power of life and death, but every man and woman who come together have the potential for that power. It was a type of symbolism for these ancient people, but one that was important enough to hold their spirits in this place until the ceremony could be performed. Know that I would have found you, Danielle, with or without the magic,” he whispered, pressing her hard against his chest as if he needed to feel every inch of her skin next to his.
She opened up to him with everything she had to give, and as he shared the most sacred and primal essence of his being with her body, she took him in and their souls came together as one spirit.
Their new lives had just begun with the most basic act of love and the symbolism of their union created a vision of the future for the lingering spirits to follow.
The balance was finally complete.
Chapter Twenty
Danielle and Jake strolled off the bridge, hand in hand, and their eyes were filled with wonder at all the activity around them as both worlds seemed to meld together for a moment. Anna stood with Cataya in the stone square at the base of the pyramid, her arms wrapped protectively around the child as the supernatural figures took on solid color and form. Her head darted from side to side in panic when a nearby market stand came to life, draped with exotic silks and banded links of gold, as the very real scent of roasted fowl drifted p
ast them from a spitfire that turned with ease inside a brick oven.
“Thank you, Anna, for everything you have done to help us.” Jake released Danielle’s hand and held his arms out to the young woman, who fell to pieces at the sight of him.
It was heartbreaking in a way, to see the strong girl come apart at the end of her journey, but it also served to let them know she was as fragile and human as any of them left standing. Now, more than ever, Danielle saw the sweet child she really was behind the pain that had driven her so mercilessly.
“No, I failed.” She hung her head, though Jake tried to lift her chin and read her eyes. “Britton was right about me. I’m a stupid girl.”
“You aren’t a stupid girl,” a new voice clearly carried to them over the sounds of the city square. “You are my sister.”
Anna froze at the sound and clasped a hand over her mouth as the tears poured from her eyes.
He came from the misty shadows in the distance, just the way Danielle remembered it. His sandy colored uniform stood out from the rest of the villagers at the market and the metal plating of his dog tags flashed again when he walked past them to put his hands on Anna’s shoulders.
She fell to her knees and started gasping for air between her uncontrollable sobs.
“Andy, I’m so sorry.” The words fell between her breaths. “I thought I could bring you back to us. Britton told me he had discovered a way to harness the power of life and death, but I guess I didn’t know what that truly meant. I didn’t know what terrible things I would have to do when it all began, but I tried as hard as I could to be strong for you, to be strong like you.”
“I can’t come back, my dear, I have finished my duties there, and that part of my journey has passed. I wandered in between for so long, looking for something, but I could not remember what it was. Now I know that I had to find you, because you needed to say good bye.” He spoke with such kindness and love that it pierced Danielle’s heart when she saw the saddened look in his eyes.
Through Ancient Eyes (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Page 20