by Tigris Eden
“Well, yeah, there is that, too. We just have to roll with it. Deal with the consequences.”
“But people may die.”
“People die every day. It’s a part of life.”
Key in hand, Yewa watched Enri approach the gate. He looked at the symbols for a moment as if to ponder his decision.
“It’s a crap shoot really. I could open this door, and we could end up in a place not suitable for either of us.”
“Then let’s go about this another way.”
He shook his head. A lock of black hair fell over one eye as he moved his hand forward and inserted the key. There was nothing left for her to do, but to move forward with him. She wasn’t going to leave and back out on her word. Don’t be foolish. You do this for other reasons now, her mind argued. But she understood the consequences—at least, she hoped she did. It was just a matter of time before things changed. They had to. He hadn’t let Hephaestos touch her, although, she wasn’t quite sure if it had more to do with her being useful to him to some other degree, or if he was starting to see her as a friend. An ally. She hoped it was the latter because otherwise, she was becoming something she didn’t want to become to Enri. Expendable.
The door opened on a gust of wind.
Enri turned to take her hand, and as the two of them walked through the gate, a loud wailing sounded. Screams assailed her ears, hundreds of thousands of cries, as the two of them plummeted. It felt like the air was getting thicker as they fell into the vast emptiness. Thicker and hotter. Enri gripped Yewa’s hand tighter. She couldn’t look at him because her eyes were closed tight.
“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Yewa.” Enri’s voice was in her head.
She hadn’t known they’d even been in Kansas.
“We were in Kansas?” Yewa asked as they continued their descent. Why wouldn’t he let out his wings? “Use your wings.”
“Trying, but it’s kind of hard to do that while you’re falling to the unknown. Besides, nothing works like normal here. You could almost say we’re both vulnerable at this stage in the game.”
He didn’t sound the least bit concerned.
Quite the opposite.
He was enjoying himself.
“This isn’t a game.”
“Never said it was, but we might as well have some fun while we’re at it.”
“I don’t think this is fun at all.” Her voice quivered.
Yewa felt Enri’s hand tighten as he pulled her into his arms. Yewa wrapped her legs around his waist and held on.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.” Enri sounded so sure of himself; she had no choice but to believe him. She tightened her hold around his neck as the temperature went from a strangling hot to breath-stealing cold. When Enri’s feet finally touched the ground, Yewa opened her eyes.
The place they were in couldn’t be where Enri intended them to end up. Her breath frosted in front of her in a cloud of ice that sounded like small bells as it hit the ground. There were jagged rocks made of quartz-like crystals and large glaciers that threw off an eerie light. It felt like she was standing on glass, and when she looked down she realized it was frozen water. Perhaps a lake of some sort, but it went on for as far as the eye could see. Ahead of her, the night sky was painted a brilliant purple mixed with pinks, yellows, and blues. Lights twinkled off in the distances like diamonds and gems.
“Where are we?”
“Very good question,” Enri said.
Yewa looked up and saw an opening of sorts; it reminded her of the rainstorms of her home. Only the clouds had color. Bright green, pink, red, and yellow swirled high above and every so often, a rumble of thunder echoed across the sky followed by a clap of lightening. Only the light itself blazed across the sky in an angry red.
“You can set me down,” Yewa said, realizing she was still in Enri’s arms.
“I don’t think I will. Not yet, at least.”
She watched as he looked around. They were on another world, or in another realm that existed on a different plane. That was the only explanation. The ground shook violently, followed by a low hissing sound.
“This place doesn’t feel stable.”
“No, but if we’re here, that means we were brought here for a reason. When I find that bitch of a gate, I’m going to end her.” Enri said.
Each time they spoke, the air they expelled turned to ice. Yewa was cold, but she wasn’t uncomfortably so. She was sure the clothing Enri provided protected her from the elements. Barely.
There was a movement to their left, and Enri swung around. The newcomer was a female. A tall, beautiful female. Her hair was blacker than night itself, with slivers of white throughout, but the most prominent feature of her flawless face were her eyes. In a way, they were just like Enri’s. They’d deepen into a vast sky-like pattern that swirled with the stars. Her skin looked to be made of the ice that surrounded them, but her veins pulsed with life. Her lips were pale but managed to give off a hint of a grin as she pulled them up slightly in a curve.
Enri set Yewa down, then. He cleared his throat, and addressed the female, “You would be?”
The smile she gifted him with was deadly. “Aurora, goddess of the dawn, and not-so-loving sister. But you may call me Ora.”
Chapter 9
That was not the response Enri expected. He didn’t have any sisters. None he was aware of, and he’d been around longer than most.
“I don’t have any sisters. Try again.”
The female, Aurora, chuckled. “You’re so like our father.”
“Hades doesn’t have a sense of humor, and mine is hanging on by a thin thread.”
She shook her head in a fit of giggles, covering her mouth like some childish schoolgirl. “Hades isn’t your father. Erebos is.”
There was that name again.
“Not possible.”
“Why not? Because you say so?”
“Because I know so.”
Yewa tapped him on the shoulder, and Enri turned her way, growling. “What!”
“She may have some answers about the Throne of Creation.”
Right.
That was the purpose of this trip, to begin with.
“What do you know about the Throne of Creation?”
That got her attention.
“That is not something that should be discussed or thought about. Father would make things bad for you.”
“Well, Aurora—”
“Ora, call me Ora.”
“Ora,” Enri said tightly. “I don’t care how bad Erebus can make things for me. I want answers to my questions.”
“There are some things that are better left alone.”
“How about I make this easy for you?” Enri stepped forward, releasing his wings. The movement was swift enough to startle his so-called sister, but she righted herself quickly, showcasing her own set of midnight wings. Huh. Wings just like his, only hers changed colors and were made of light, a far-reaching luminance engulfing his darkness. What if this chick is your sister?
“Chaos, you do not want to do that.”
“I am not Chaos.”
“You are.”
“I am?”
“That’s what she said,” Yewa interrupted.
“Say for a moment I believe you. Why don’t I know this about myself already?”
“Father had you sent away and your memories locked up. Mnemosyne holds your past for you.”
He couldn’t help it. He laughed.
“I don’t find any of this funny,” Yewa whispered at his side.
Ora seemed to come out of a daze as she focused on Yewa. The goddess inspected the healer for the first time.
“Who. Are. You?” Ora asked in a whispery soft voice.
Yewa stiffened next to Enri, and he lightly touched her hand with his. He’d told her she had nothing to worry about and he meant it.
“She’s none of your concern.”
“She became my concern the moment you brought her here.”
Ora laughed, the sound like nails on a chalkboard.
“No. You brought yourself, whether you choose to believe it or not, Chaos. This place was your first creation. It was also the place you enslaved me in. You may not remember, but I do.”
“I put you here?”
“Yes. Yes, you did.” Ora stepped closer, and as she placed one foot in front of the other, her spiked heels dug into the ice beneath her feet, making the ground fracture in her wake. Like the web of a spider, the ground opened into narrow cracks all around. Searching, seeking for a place to open the ice.
“Don’t come any closer.”
“Or what, big brother? What more can you do to me that you haven’t already done?”
He could do a lot more.
“I said don’t come any closer.” His voice rose high above the sound of thunder in the background and the ground shook. Still, Ora stepped forward.
“I’ve never seen someone like her. I’m so far away, I can’t see beyond the vast darkness of space. You made sure I’d suffer, brother—made sure I was all alone here. The small glimpses I get of the inhabited worlds lacks any warmth.”
Yewa grabbed his forearm in a death grip but stood her ground. She wasn’t moving and neither was he.
“What do you want me to say?”
She wasn’t going to get an apology. He never apologized. Ever.
“I don’t want you to say anything. Just let me touch her. I want to feel the warmth of her skin.”
Touch her?
Was that all?
“I don’t think she should,” Yewa said quietly against his shoulder. She stood behind him. Normally, she didn’t shy away from things, but from Ora, she did.
“Yewa isn’t down with you touching her.”
“I don’t think she really has a choice. You want answers, I have them. Let me touch her, and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
Enri turned to look at Yewa, standing behind him.
“It will be alright. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Nodding her head, she stepped out from behind him. Ora drew closer.
“She’s so unique. Have you noticed the color of her eyes, brother? They’re almost gold, with undertones of sand from the earth, and there are speckles of greens mixed in. But now they are gray, stormy. Like our eyes, hers change. Perhaps with mood? She’s so expressive, I can see the appeal. I think she is something special. And her hair, have you ever seen anything so shiny?”
“Get on with this touching business.”
Ora turned sharp eyes on him.
Enri watched as his sister reached out, grabbing Yewa by the wrist, who hissed in pain. Enri was ready to stop the interaction when Yewa shook her head slightly to ward him off. She knew he wanted the information, and yet again, she was there willing to help. Doing whatever it took, no matter how uncomfortable it made her. The two women stood face to face. Yewa, much shorter, than Ora. Her hair did shine, he noticed, and her eyes, they were very expressive. He hadn’t paid too much attention, but they did change color. A lot. He’d thought it was a trick of the light or lack thereof. But as he watched her now, they were a stormy gray, almost a liquid silver. He’d seen that variation a few times. Was it due to her emotions? Her brothers had been a ghostly white, and now they were brown. Yet, hers were ever-changing.
Aurora drew Yewa closer, and Enri watched as the other woman’s wings engulfed Yewa into an embrace. The light was blinding, making Enri step back. He shielded his own eyes from the light and tried again to focus. But found he couldn’t. He couldn’t hear Yewa’s heartbeat either.
When the light disappeared, it was just the two women again. Yewa in Aurora’s embrace, their lips fused together in a frozen kiss. He didn’t realize what was happening until he saw the blue of Yewa’s vein appear beneath the collar of her jacket. Enri didn’t think. He reacted. He caught Yewa around the waist, at the same time shoving Aurora away with brutal force.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Aurora wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“She’s truly something. I told you I wanted to touch her. That meant everywhere.”
Enri shook Yewa, but she didn’t move. Wasn’t breathing. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He placed a hand on her chest. Her heart still beat, but slowly. Her body was cold. So fucking cold. Her lips now a grayish-blue.
“What did you do to her?”
“Me? I didn’t do this to her. You did. You brought her here.”
“Is she going to die?”
Aurora shrugged. “Time will only tell. She’ll wake up eventually. But now, you want answers to your questions.”
He did want answers to his questions, but not at the cost of Yewa’s life. Why not? When did she become important?
She wasn’t.
Couldn’t be.
She was rubbing off on him, making him weak. He wasn’t weak. He was everything and anything but weak.
“Start talking,” Enri said, laying Yewa on the cold ground.
“You plan to leave her here?”
“For now. Start talking.”
“He needs you.”
It was the voice. The same voice from the forest back on Fion. Yewa opened her eyes and was greeted with darkness. Endless darkness.
“Who are you?” she asked into the darkness.
“Sound.”
“Sound?”
“Yes, Sound. I am part of the beginning, middle, and end of things.”
“You were the one in the forest, weren’t you?”
“Yes, but she comes now. Don’t listen to her; all she will tell you will be lies. Remember, to see the light, you must first be devoured by your darkness.”
The voice faded into the void. Yewa didn’t understand what the voice meant by its departing words, and before she could decipher its message, a light appeared. Faint at first, but ever growing in its luminosity as it drew closer.
“You think my brother will love you, don’t you girl?”
“Who are you?”
“The Dawn. We’ve had this conversation already. I brought you here to warn you.”
“Warn me? About what?”
“Chaos.”
That was what she called Enri. Chaos.
“What about him?”
“He can never love you. You are ending, he is unending. Time is not an issue for him, but a nuisance. Like it is for all of us.”
“Who is all of us?”
“We are the source, the derivation of all things. We are the beginning—there was nothing, and no one before us.”
There had to be something.
“What about Sound?”
“Sound is not worth listening to. Sound spins tales, tells lies. Sound is not to be trusted.”
That’s exactly what Sound had said of Dawn.
“What came before Darkness?” Yewa asked.
“Before Darkness was the Primordial.”
“Where is the Original?”
“He is everywhere and nowhere. He sleeps, but is awake.”
The conversation wasn’t helping, and she only knew of two people that may be able to help her. Gabriel or his mate Jorunn.
“Will you return me?”
“I can if you promise to leave my brother. He doesn’t need you. As we speak, I’m telling him the truth of his beginnings.”
“I can’t do that. I promised him I would stay.”
“Break your promise. It is the only way. Things will change drastically for all who wish to remain in the here and now.”
“But the Defiant Ones? What of them?”
“They will be dealt with.”
She couldn’t leave. He’d never trust her again, and she knew she was making progress in their friendship.
“Can I see him before I leave?”
Maybe if she explained to him what she was doing, he’d understand.
“No, my time is very limited. I can get you to a place o
f your choosing, as long as it’s during the time of dawn.”
“But I need to see Enri first.”
“Take me up on this offer, or your body will succumb to my kiss. Right now, you decide.”
There had to be another way, but if there was a beginning to all of this, surely there was an end.
Yewa began to shake. Uncontrollable tremors rocked her body as she fought to stand upright.
“What’s happening?”
“You took too long to answer, and now my kiss will consume you.”
“Enri, you can’t challenge our father.”
“Why the hell not?”
“It will kick-start the Recommence.”
“People keep saying that, and I don’t really care. That asshole opened my chest, had my shit out there in the wind.”
“It wasn’t like you felt any true pain.”
“Don’t care. It pissed me the fuck off. All he had to do is mind his fucking business. But he couldn’t. Came to gloat. Assert his manhood.”
He wouldn’t have cared either way if his father were Darkness. If he hadn’t shown up, the only person he’d be dealing with would have been Hades. He was taking that fucker’s lair as well. Everything that was rightfully his—he was taking it all back.
“You are so full of yourself.”
“Your point?”
“My point is you can’t do what you came to do. Just give up now, while you have the chance.”
Like hell, he would.
He laughed.
“You still aren’t answering my questions. My name is Enri, not Chaos. My father is Hades, not Darkness, and Aurora, you are not my sister.”
“Why—because you say so?”
“Sure, because I say so.”
They didn’t resemble one another.
“The Primordial convinced your mother to usher you away into one of the worlds you created.”
“Me? You’re saying I created Earth?”
She nodded solemnly. She was dead serious.
“You possess the spark.”
Riiiiiiggggghhhhhhhttttttttt.
“Fuck off.” Enri turned to walk away. He noticed Yewa was not where he left her.
“Where is the woman?”