by Casey Herzog
I could see his heart was true and he only wanted good things to happen for me. He believed in me and I fed on his belief in me by not shying away from the unknown.
“The love I see in your eyes is only masked by the resentment you still feel for me leaving you. You give me a reason to be a better man and to show you the necessary respect. This thing is familiar, but I can’t really say for sure what it is. We can certainly go back, but it would seem foolish when we have come so far.” The cold of our environment was at least keeping the shadows at bay. They would come close, but it was more like they were testing their abilities.
“I want to believe everything will work out, but I have been disappointed too many time,” I said hoping that I wasn’t saying anything to offend.
I wanted him to know that having him around gave me a reason to choose the sensible path. It also gave me the courage to step into the light of my own making.
“We heard of these things from various sources, but I always thought they were exaggerated. It would appear the cold is keeping them from getting any closer. We can take that as a blessing in disguise, and maybe we can use it to our advantage. This environment will help us avoid any unnecessary problems.” My father was being purposely vague, and I had a feeling I was going to have to make him reveal what he was trying to hide.
“If you’re not going to say anything useful, then let me be the first one. I saw these things in my dream and I hear their voices like whispers in the wind. They are begging me to help them, but I get the feeling there’s more going on here. There’s no reason for me to trust them without some sort of olive branch.”
They kept swirling around us, staying above the altitude, and I could feel them almost hungering for a taste of what we had.
“Some have their theories, but nothing has been proven. You’re right not to trust them; they most likely have their own agenda. One theory states they are other beings trying to latch onto a human host, but this is the first time I’ve seen them in person. Others have given them a nickname of shrouds, ghoulish beings that roam the night, amassing power by draining unsuspecting victims.”
I felt the exhaustion building inside me. The cold was having the added side effect of keeping these things away, but it was also slowing our progress. The snow was getting thicker and we had to go at a snail’s pace to avoid plummeting into a chasm.
“I don’t like either one of those options. They must sense the magic, and maybe in some small way, I was responsible for waking them. I thought what I was doing was the right thing for everybody, but I never knew the right thing could easily turn out to be the wrong thing. I know they’re starving. One spoke with clarity, while the other one seemed to be struggling between sanity and insanity.”
“You did what you had to and what made sense to you at the time. I don’t blame you. Some things are unavoidable, no matter what you do. Things like these are hard to swallow, and I understand your hesitation about wanting to make the hard decisions. There is such a thing as having faith everything will work out the way it’s supposed to. I’ve always been a believer of light vs. darkness.” The wind was howling, but some of the sound might have come from those things just out of reach.
They gave the impression of being insidious and willing to brave the elements to touch the magic within my father and me. I wanted to help them, but to do so would only put myself in danger. That was becoming a trend, and one that I would like to break. The one thing I couldn’t admit to anybody was that I was energized by the excitement.The constant threat to my life was like an adrenaline rush I had never felt before. I had to assume this feeling was courtesy of the combination of both the magic eyes and the darker arts.
“I need you to keep it together a little while longer. We’ve gotten past the point where anybody has gotten before, and there’s only been one other who made it all the way: your mother. She had a reputation for going above and beyond. I wanted her to stay, but she had to go.”
I couldn’t see his face underneath the white winter attire. Then, I heard the crack and I looked down to see a spider web of cracks along my feet. The wind blew for one brief second, exposing that we had somehow climbed out onto an icy ledge born from the environment.
I stopped moving altogether, and I could tell my father was feeling the same thing. One wrong move and it would be our last. If the fall didn’t get us, the jagged rocks and the inevitable landing would.
Chapter Thirteen
I had no idea what tomorrow was going bring, but right at this moment, I was terrified beyond any semblance of reason. My father had told me I was a shooting star and a ray of light, but I didn’t feel any of those things. I felt deep, residing fear burning deep and holding me hostage.
“This is no time to lose your head, daughter. I’ve taken an assessment of what we’re up against, and I don’t see any reason why I can’t be honest with you. I’ve done some calculations, and we walked across this icy bridge about halfway. The middle is the weakest point, and is the reason we are experiencing the cracks within the fissure of the ice.”
It was nice to know one of us was keeping a sensible head. I wasn’t sure how he could be so calm when the reality was frighteningly simple.
“None of what you said helps us to navigate to the other side, but I will concur with your assessment. We still need a solution to the problem. We can’t use magic and each step is putting us in peril. If we can somehow make it a few more feet the ice will get thicker and we won’t have to worry about plummeting to our deaths.”
I saw him move very slowly and reach back into his bag to pull out what look like an ancient weapon. The length of very thick wire was wrapped around one of the arrows before he placed it into the mechanism. There was no way that he could see anything in front of him; using this was going on a wing and a prayer.
“I’ve always had an unfair advantage I have never shared with anybody. Your mother was obsessed, and she took meticulous notes ,which I have in my possession. She spoke of an icy road to hell, but I really didn’t know what she meant in context. It certainly makes sense when you think about it. She was never quite the same mentally when she came back because she experienced something nobody could understand. That began her decline in health. Her mind unraveled and I tried to help her, but she was too far gone.”
I listened to my father’s recollection of my mother, but I didn’t see any of that growing up. I knew I was young, but I would’ve recognized something was wrong. She seemed perfectly normal, but there was that absence of time. I lost several years of my memory due to an illness that had ravaged the community one person at a time. They told me I was lucky to have survived, but once again I was unaware of anything.
“I never had a reason to question this before, but the time of my mother’s decline seems to have been at precisely the time I was suffering the illness. It seems awfully coincidental that one didn’t lead to the other. Did my mother bring this sickness back with her? Was she responsible for the devastation? I know you don’t want to talk about it, but it would appear you don’t have any place to run.”
He pulled back on the taut string and fired, his fingers literally shaking with the effort. The wire unrolled, and I watched and tried to listen, but it was virtually impossible with the wind. It was hard to even hear us talk to one another.
“Your mother meant no harm. There was no way for her to know her journey to this mountain would bring back something so deadly. Half of the population went down and I determined it was because of something in their genetic makeup. Half of those inflicted died, and others suffered what I call time displacement.”
The arrow came to the end and the wire pulled tightly. It dropped like my heart just did inside my chest. Pieces of ice were breaking away beside me. I had to hold my breath and hope for the best.
“It’s no wonder everybody keeps looking at me like I have inherited my mother’s adventurous spirit. What happened when I was corrupted must’ve instilled more than idle curiosity. If I were in their sh
oes, I would take a dim view of me having magic at all. The looks and the icy reception have left me feeling like an outsider, but now I understand. I’m usually pretty friendly, but their cold dead stares of disapproval have left me speechless.”
He reeled back the wire, bringing with it the arrow with no visible signs of making contact with any surface to help us.
“I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how to find the right words. You’re the spitting image of your mother, which scares some people. What happened recently was a wake-up call and has them on high alert for anything suspicious you might be involved in. It took a lot to keep them in the dark about this journey. You can imagine they would have stepped in to make sure what happened before couldn’t happen again.”
He fired the arrow again, and we waited patiently like time itself had stood still. Once again, we were left with nothing to show for the effort. The arrow did not pierce anything, and with each try, it was becoming almost laughable. It felt like somebody up there was purposely dangling the carrot in front of us and then taking it away at the last second.
“I’m glad you finally told me, but it does not instill any kind of confidence in me. I’ve already proven to them I am like my mother. I thought there was something more to the way they were acting towards me. It’s not like anybody else hasn’t made a mistake. I don’t think it’s fair of them to judge me, but I think I understand where they’re coming from.”
I wanted to help get us out of this mess, but there was nothing I could do. I could only stand still and hope for a miracle. With each piece of ice that broke away from what I considered our bridge to safety, my heart would jump out of its chest. Whatever air I could bring into my lungs was very little.
“Once your mother got something in her head, there was very little anybody could do to stop her. She was headstrong and stubborn, but I think we can admit these are shortcomings you have in common with her.
“I did manage to save a dozen of those infected. I know this is not going to sit well, but I had you inoculated as one of the earlier test subjects. I had no idea what it would do to you, but losing a couple of years from your childhood is a small price to pay for continued survival.”
The shrouds were still circling like they were waiting for our terrified screams. I suspected that would be when they would swoop in and take what they wanted.
“I’m not going to give up and I don’t want you to either, father. We have come a long way and I will be damned if we are stopped this close to finding what we need to help Damien.”
I tried to conjure some sort of spell of protection using the bare basics of magic as a foundation. It wasn’t just forbidden, but impossible to use magic. It was still there, but I couldn’t pull it out to be of any use to us.
I was even tempted to call on the darker arts, which I knew were still there waiting for me to slip and fall off the wagon. It would’ve been so easy, but I would’ve felt lost. I would have reverted back to the evil. It was constantly nagging at me, and the only way to prevent it from taking hold was by keeping busy.
“I won’t give up on my family, and I will always try to find a way out, regardless of any kind of personal sacrifice. You can help by believing this arrow to be true in its trajectory.”
The ice had thinned and I was standing with my two feet planted together. The wind was amazingly strong and I had to hunch to give myself some balance. I soon found myself on my hands and knees with barely a platform of ice keeping me from finding my way into my mother’s arms.
I wanted to believe she was out there protecting us and ready to act from whatever afterlife she had found herself in. Believing in something bigger than what you are is hard for most and easier for few.
The arrow was the hope we were clinging to with the last breath in our bodies. He was about to fire it, but then he stopped for a moment and moved the angle slightly to the left. It was almost like somebody had touched him on the shoulder to give him some much-needed advice and direction.
The wire became tight, and even though we couldn’t see it, the arrow made the necessary impact. I was enthusiastically happy, but that was short lived. The ice under my feet gave way and gravity was going to do the rest.
Chapter Fourteen
The only thing I could think about was my father coming to the rescue. I acted without thinking by leaping onto his back piggyback style. The extra weight broke the ice underneath his feet. I was holding on for dear life, closing my eyes and willing this part of my history to be over. If we survived, I could definitely see myself writing down my exploits for others to enjoy after my passing.
“I understand why you did it, but the ice couldn’t hold both of us at the same time. I need you to climb up over me and make it to the ice thicker than the rest. Move quickly and quietly and be as soft-footed as you can.”
I felt like he was trying to trick me into leaving him, but that was not something I was going to entertain. I held of his jacket and I climbed, slipping once before gaining my equilibrium. Scared or not, I was going to have to treat this like any other problem. I went through many scenarios, and none was any more pleasant than the other. It made sense to follow my father’s directions to the letter.
“There’s no way I’m going to allow you to sacrifice yourself for me. You might think what you’re doing is right, but you will leave me in a position of weakness. Whatever evil remaining inside me will latch onto my grief and become a sort of lifeline which I won’t be unable to resist.” I didn’t know if it was true, but I needed him to believe it.
“You have always been stronger than you think. I don’t know what’s going to happen; that’s entirely up to fate. I will fight tooth and nail to stay with you, but you must continue on without me because Damien is counting on you. The shrouds will not be very forgiving. I will make sure they choke on me.”
My feet were on his shoulders and I propelled myself as far as I could with the strength of my legs giving me the added boost. The ice did sound like it was cracking underneath me, but I saw no visible signs. I saw my father’s hands slipping and looked behind to see the arrow barely staying in contact with the hard packed ice it had penetrated. His hands disappeared and without even a second thought, I slid across and found myself grabbing onto him with no regard for my own safety.
The shriek of the shrouds gave me the indication they weren’t very happy with me. The sound was deafening, like they were purposely trying to distract me from the task at hand. It was a good thing I had the right frame of mind to grab onto the wire with my other hand. It was the only thing preventing me from joining my father who was this close to dying.
“You shouldn’t have done this! It’s better that one of us lives than none of us. I know your heart was in the right place, but you might have done more harm than good.”
I could feel the slack of the wire, and it could only mean the arrow was getting ready to let go. If I didn’t act quickly, then all of this was going to be for nothing.
I never did take into consideration it would be this hard, but I knew in my head it was dangerous to take this journey. I never fully understood what that meant. I looked up at the shrouds and they seemed to be waiting with bated breath. They would’ve been happy with just one, but both of us would have fed them for quite some time. I got the feeling they were waiting for the both of us to die.
The only solution was to bring him up 1-inch at a time with both of us working together. He was grateful when he finally was where he could take a breath of relief. The shriek got louder with obvious disappointment. I smiled, thinking we had gotten one over on them.
I didn’t know why they were complaining when they were probably going to have another chance to collect on their bounty. We had escaped the jaws of death twice already, and we were pressing our luck.
“I doubt it’s going to get any easier, Gillian. You’d think coming back down won’t be as hard, but we are going to have to come back the same way unless we can find another less daunting route.” My father was
always the optimist, but he accepted failure in order to learn from it. He found the only option was to protect me, and most likely weighed the pros and cons to come up with the only answer.
“I want you to hold onto that possibility. You’re my father; if there is another way I’m sure you’ll be able to find it.” The whisper of the shrouds was right there in my consciousness. I only had to allow them entry and I would hear their thoughts like I had when I was unconscious.
I hadn’t told my father any of this, not quite believing it myself, but I knew in my heart the shrouds were trying to communicate once again. I was reluctant to let them speak, thinking that maybe they would be able to convince me to do something to cause me to lose my life.
We got to the other side and had barely taken one step before the ice bridge collapsed. One more second and everything we had been working for was going to be for nothing. We would still lose the battle, and the risk we had taken would’ve been an unfortunate demonstration in stupidity. I felt like Damien was worth whatever we put ourselves through.
“Gillian, I thought for a moment we were going to have to climb straight up, but the landscape is remarkable similar to what we’ve already attempted and succeeded in conquering.”
The only huge stumbling block was the thinning air. We had to control our breathing by using a tried and true meditation technique.
The flower was up there waiting for us to retrieve it and bring it back to Damien in hopes of giving him a chance to make a recovery. It was a slim hope, but we would’ve felt stupid not to try. Julian was instrumental in finding the other ingredients; of course, nothing compared to the trek to the top of the mountain. We all had our parts to play, and I was up to the challenge.
I had been close to madness a few months ago and not even the love of William was enough to pull me away. I needed the concentrated effort of him and my loved ones to bring me to a logical state of mind. It felt right to destroy everything; there were still moments I wanted to commit genocide. It would have been so satisfying to see the world burn, but this was the evil speaking, not me.