Awakening

by Melainie Nilles

  "It is hard not to hear. The temples are designed to magnify prayers." His voice lowered to a whisper and he pushed the wall next to them aside, revealing a hidden room.

  A shudder passed through her in spite of his assurances. Fearing the swordsman more, she pushed aside her hesitations about the priest and followed him into a tiny room. A faint tingle electrified her senses. For a second, she thought she heard a whisper but shook it off as an effect of the closeness of the walls.

  "What is this?"

  "This temple is old. The city grew around it. During the Cretian Revolution, many were saved through the tunnels." He flicked on an electric lantern and the door slid shut.

  "I'll spare the history, but the tunnels were later collapsed." He shone the light down the narrow corridor. It barely reached to a pile of rubble blocking it from continuing. She'd have no escape that way if the swordsman found her. A second later, he lifted the light between them and put a finger to his lips.

  Lilly's breath froze in her chest and she crept towards the door to put her ear up to it.

  Nothing.

  But they were in a secret chamber behind a staircase.

  "You would hear if someone entered the sanctuary." The old man's bare whisper cracked the stillness like a clap of thunder. Gray eyes glinted with the wry smile on his face.

  "Clever design," she whispered.

  If the strange man had followed, he should have been there by now.

  Time stood still while they waited. She barely breathed in fear of making any sound that might reveal their location. Part of her reasoned that the swordsman should have been there long before they reached the room, had he seen her enter the temple. The boy had delayed her more than long enough.

  An eternity could have passed in the quiet chamber before she thought to pull out the comm unit from her pocket and check the chronometer, which glowed through the darkness.

  "Damn." She'd just missed the train and would have to wait for the next.

  On the good side, the strange man should be long gone, having, by all indications, lost her; and since she had a cycle away from the office and downtown Porton, she would hopefully be forgotten or he would be caught and imprisoned by the Peacekeepers by the time she returned. Either meant he wouldn't get to her, but the former was preferable to the latter.

  "You said a man with a sword attacked?" The diviner's voice barely broke the still air.

  She shrank from the eerie shadows on his face cast by the lantern. "Yes, in the alley between buildings down the street. He attacked and I ducked and ran. He was following me. I didn't know where else to go."

  The priest nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face one that she recognized.

  "You don't believe me." She should have known. It sounded farfetched to her, but she had experienced it.

  "I do. I also know you're no daemon."

  "Daemon?"

  A wry smile broke the stern set to his jaw and he pointed above the door to a strange etched symbol. Now that she was aware of it, she looked about at patterns of them all around on the walls and floor.

  "They cannot pass beyond the wards. The tunnels were originally meant to protect humanity from them."

  Lilly bit her tongue on what she thought of his religious nonsense and stepped back from him, now anxious to leave. He stuck his finger in a fist-sized notch in the hidden door and pulled. At a small click, light returned from outside, along with the silence of the sanctuary and fresh air.

  "You don't have to believe. Come." The old man motioned her forward and descended to the main level, where he pointed to the many scenes decorating the walls and ceiling. "A great war began long ago between the forces of light and dark. The daemons, the rebels, were cast from the light to the dark pits of Velok. Legions of luriel hold them off for eternity. In retaliation, the daemons came to destroy our world after the Gods departed, but the luriel saved us and continue to protect us until the Gods return."

  Not yet wanting to risk stepping into the street, she followed the priest to an old book under a glass case. Pages yellowed by time and rough-edged from use revealed their illumination in magnificent pictures with text around them and gold lacings framing each page. Its beauty stole her breath.

  "The Falamoer, the book of Fal Oroneth. It was written seven thousand years ago by the great prophet Alethea. She wrote the history of the Eternal Gods, who once walked all realms and birthed the luriel and daemons and condemned them to another realm. However, the Gods were destroyed in the process. The two sides are weaker than their predecessors and are strongest in their realm. She wrote about a vision of the Gods returning. We live in the hopes that her vision of unity is fulfilled." Bliss lit upon his face. "It is the cornerstone of our faith."

  Myths. All well and good for bedtime stories but nothing more.

  She wanted to say there was no such thing, but something inside stopped her. A feeling of homesickness ached in her when she looked upon the painting of a city haloed in golden rays on the ceiling over the alter. Winged beings in gold-accented white robes surrounded it. Part of her felt it was real but it couldn't be. It was all religious nonsense.

  Or maybe she didn't want to believe, because if the Gods were real, then the horrible monsters, the daemons, were real too, and she didn't want to believe in such horrors. She believed in the sciences, which explained the universe and its order. And she'd always hated the dark.

  She was a product of the Reformation. Her parents had brought her up to believe in the empirical, in what could be proven. The rest was imagination for the rush of being frightened—and she hated being frightened.

  "I appreciate the faith lesson," she lied, backing away towards the door. The priest watched her with a patience on his face that belied his true motive—to convert her—but she wasn't going to give him that chance. "But I should really be getting to the train. Really. Thank you…for everything."

  She turned and hurried to the door, glad for the chance to have hidden but feeling like he had tapped into the emptiness inside her. The priest's quick lesson on his beliefs left her with an eerie sensation and the feeling like she was missing something, a…unity. She had to get out of there, away from everything, and return home to the comfort of familiarity and tangible surroundings in the present, rather than the imagined worlds of the past. She needed to find herself.

  She couldn't wait to get away from the city and the temple.

  Lilly reached the door and hesitated. A glance back assured her that the priest had no intention to harass her—he made his way to the alter rather than follow her. She breathed easier but still had one problem.

  Slowly, she opened the doors a crack and peered out. The crowds had grown more numerous if anything, perfect for her to hide.

  And she saw no sign of the swordsman.

  With a reassuring breath, she straightened and slipped out from the temple and hastened to reach the crowds. Anxious for the security of the ride home, she squeezed past people to the small station, seconds before the lev-rail reached it.

  Finally. Maybe she could have some peace of heart and soul.

  If only the nagging sensation of seeking unity would go away.

  Damn Rian for leaving her heartbroken.

  Chapter 2

  The thunder of Torek's roar shook the caverns of Velok. From the inner chambers to eternity, every daemon of Fal Oroneth, known to creatures from beyond as the Shadow Realm, would know the daemon lord's anger.

  Standing among the other frael, the generals of Torek's army, in the dark cavern of the court of the Lord of Velok, Darrac didn't flinch. His wings remained closed, his tail still, and his arms folded with his claws closed. As one of the top generals, he had their leader's favor, along with every other frael who had successfully vanquished numerous celemae, the corporeal luriel, the beings they had fought since the Sundering ended the rule of the Eternals. He didn't need to fear.

  The daemons of Velok should have conquered the Gray Realm long ago. However, even the strongest daemons we
re slow to spawn, unlike the luriel, who broke off pieces of themselves and attached those pieces to human souls to reincarnate into new generations as celemae, who later ascended from the Gray Realm as full luriel to add to their numbers.

  But the celemae humans, the fledgling luriel, could be destroyed and the part of the luriel attached destroyed with them.

  Another celemae had been discovered that day, not yet aware of her true self in her mortal body, but the daemon assigned to eliminate her had failed.

  One disadvantage of the luriel's method of reproducing was the delayed awareness, a weakness that the Lord of Velok had learned to take advantage of long ago. The daemons felt the awakening of the luriel fire, the energy of Fal Oroneth. When that happened, Torek sent out a daemon to eliminate them before they recognized the enlightenment and joined the ranks of the Pallora Fen, the ancient order of celemae humans who prepared to ascend.

  Tarisk had failed, killed by one of the Pallora Fen. The problem was that the more experienced celemae had detected the awakening luriel spirit. Like the daemons, they felt the new celemae awaken and protected them. Given the opportunity, the Fen would recruit this one. That couldn't be allowed.

  Torek quieted, leaving the generals breathless. No one dared move.

  Darrac could complete the mission—he had many times—but he had other preparations to make. Let Torek send one of the other daemons.

  Darrac let out a gust of contempt through nostril slits and waited. He would soon have their legions ready to attack the luriel in their shining cities and set his plan in motion to unseat Torek.

  "Darrac, you have something to say?" Torek's voice grated and growled through sharp teeth and fangs. His horns curved down and around his head. He was the largest frael, clear even while he sat upon his throne of stone, the ruler since the beginning of memory. Those who dared to challenge him disappeared. The rest cowered at his might. Darrac neither cowered nor challenged. He would never win, not in a direct confrontation. But he had learned a few tricks from previous encounters with the mortals of the Gray Realm. Torek had never set a claw in that world.

  "No, my lord."

  "Unfortunate. I now seek your counsel." Red eyes flared in a warning of Torek's anger.

  Darrac should have held his breath. Now, he had no choice but to speak. "A thought only, my lord. Our powers are weakened upon entering the Gray Realm. Tarisk was a fool to expose himself so soon."

  "He obeyed my command to expedite the execution of the celemae."

  "Of course, my lord. But in any encounter with the celemae, caution is warranted. The Pallora Fen and luriel will always be near. Observation is prudent to assess the situation prior to engaging the enemy when we are so weak upon emerging in the Gray Realm. Tarisk was known for his carelessness."

  "You supported his choice."

  Of course he had! Tarisk was working his way to being one of the favored of their lord. Darrac saw him only as a challenger. With Tarisk gone, Darrac had one less problem to deal with. He couldn't say that, however. Admission would be his destruction.

  "I thought it a way to...challenge him." A partial truth, depending on one's interpretation of the word "challenge".

  Torek's nostril slits flared, his gray lips curled back in a snarl. The Lord of Velok rose from his rocky throne, towering above his generals and servants, and Darrac, whom he approached. His heavy steps crunched over stone.

  Darrac twitched his tail, agitated and threatened by the Lord's presence but resisting the unconscious expression of it. Had Torek seen through his charade?

  "I wonder who else you would challenge."

  Darrac stood his ground, despite the head of height Torek had over him, but he avoided those red eyes. Meeting them would be taken as a direct challenge. "No one, my lord. I seek to prepare your legions for your conquest of Arthan, to reclaim the home of the Eternals. They must know what they face and understand the enemy."

  Fiery breath blew over Darrac's darker gray skin. He watched the claws held out from the body and the tail lashing side-to-side warning of Torek's foul mood and prepared to act if the Lord attacked, no matter how insufficient any move may be.

  "Perhaps you're right." Torek whirled and strode away.

  Darrac let his shoulders sink. He had pulled it off.

  "To be sure it gets done right, the task falls on you, Darrac."

  The taunting threat heavy in the Lord's words tightened around him.

  "Since you've had experience and seem to know how best to handle this situation, I want you to go and destroy this celemae." Torek's jagged, scarred wings opened and his tail twitched.

  "Of course, my lord." Darrac read the posture. The Lord of Velok knew exactly what Darrac had planned. Torek had been the leader for far too long to fall for a feign of innocence. This was a test and a way to see him fail and lose his authority among the others.

  Darrac would have to step lightly in the Lord's presence…

  When he returned triumphant.

  Chapter 3

  Lilly swiped away a tear burning her eyes and sniffed back the rest threatening to fall. Stupid lonely night and stupid love story fiction. That should have been her and Rian, a happily ever after. Instead, her heart stung yet.

  Get over him. He doesn't deserve the brain space.

  Easier said than done.

  To escape the video and the memories it sparked, she hurried to the small kitchen. While grabbing a glass from a cabinet, she flashed back to the way Rian used to sneak up behind her when she thought he still sat on the sofa waiting for her return. For a fleeting second, she could feel his arms embrace her, but the cool of the air betrayed her.

  Damn him!

  She slammed the cabinet door harder than intended and filled the glass at the faucet.

  "Think about something else!"

  How about the stranger on the street yesterday? That was something else.

  The danger had been something else, accompanied by a dark foreboding feeling that had frightened her.

  Lilly shivered. That definitely took her mind off the longing. The fear came back fresh, but she excused the cold that gripped her as a result of having the air cooler set too low. The cold made for better sleeping, especially when she loved to snuggle under the comforter with Rian.

  Wrong thoughts.

  At this rate, it was going to be a long vacation. She had to find some way to keep busy.

  Tomorrow. That day was gone.

  Tomorrow, she would take a train out to one of the old historical sites and head north to visit her parents, or maybe call up friends she hadn't seen since she and Rian had been serious.

  Or, rather, since she had been serious, since apparently he hadn't been.

  The return to loneliness squeezed her heart in a noose. Her fingers matched it by tightening on her glass, which she noticed in time to relax.

  She needed to get away, no doubt about it.

  She needed to replace Rian.

  There was no use stewing about it and agonizing again. A whole day had passed of doing nothing on her first day of vacation. Tomorrow, she would do something for herself and put Rian aside once and for all. He had left and it would be his loss. She had cried enough tears over him.

  Lilly finished the water and returned to the sofa. She stretched out until her eyelids grew too heavy to stay open, when she crawled into bed.

  Under the weight of the covers, she drifted off to sleep, her heart feeling more solid with her decision to finally let go and move on.

  Dreams immersed her in another world.

  She stood amid a large, round platform surrounded by tall columns. Around her, faces materialized from a mist. Exquisite in their refinement, she could only stare in awe that any men and women of such austere beauty existed. The simple long coats and perfectly-pressed pants accentuated their height, making her feel small by comparison.

  They gathered in groups of conversation and the platform expanded, the columns sliding away to the distance while the platform filled with more o
f the strange people.

  "May I have your attention," a woman's voice broke in.

  Conversations silenced and the people turned to the center, which was raised like a dais.

  "Lo'Rella has made an astounding discovery, as many of you know." The woman with the light brown, almost red hair turned with a smile but in movements as crisp and precise as someone used to authority. She acknowledged with a stretched arm a woman with blonde hair set aglow in the sunlight.

  "I am pleased to report that we have discovered a new source of power to replace the failing nuonir. Through the extended trial and error of our esteemed Assemblage Ershante, we have been developing a substance with the potential to reverse the conceit of our predecessors."

  Applause burst from the audience and the blonde woman gave small nods of acknowledgement to several before the approval died down.

  "Furthermore," the speaker said. "We will no longer require the resources of other realms. Many in our cities have expressed concern about the effects on inhabitants of those other realms, and this will put an end to their objections. We have outlived our world, but we will not depend on others. This substance will correct the flaw that has condemned us."

  She paused and several heads bobbed in agreement and a few murmurs circulated among the groups.

  "What is…" The question asked from the group faded with the scene.

  In an instant, the day of her dream became night and chilled.

  Lilly shivered and snuggled under her comforter. The prickly sensation came again, like it had right before the man with the sword attacked.

  At that memory, she froze. Could he have found her?

  How? The apartment building had security.

  This was silly; she was acting like a frightened child. She hadn't been afraid of the dark since she was ten.

  Something whispered from the dark recesses, something sinister.

  There was her reason for being afraid.

  She inhaled sharply. "Who's there?"