Circle of Death

by Thais Lopes

  The Hand’s problem was wiped away from my mind when, less than half an hour after that call, I knew that Kelene had been caught in a trap. There was no other way to read that feeling. I was already armed, ready to go out and search for her anyway I could, when Death appeared.

  “Come!”

  30. Kelene

  A couple of hours later, I arrived at the Sanctuary, without any problems. Death’s pathways were always a quick way to travel, that’s how the Hands are able to cross the world and travel otherwise impossible distances.

  I walked through the halls quickly, ignoring the hidden faces carved in the rocky walls, until I arrived at the doors, which opened. Inside the hall, everything was as it were the last time I had visited the Nameless, centuries ago. And I couldn’t even tell if that was a good or bad sign, as I had never seen any change there. Without waiting any longer, I went down to the lower levels, the ones that existed in the same gray world that made death’s pathways.

  The doors to the Nameless’ prison appeared in front of me, and I stared at them. I hadn’t noticed it in the Sanctuary’s entrance, but here it was impossible to ignore the final death symbols standing out among the marks of imprisonment. The bindings were far weaker than I had expected.

  I heard the doors closing behind me, but I couldn’t help the feeling that something wasn’t right. I turned around, making sure they were locked, and only then moved toward the other side of the chamber, where the mirror was. The fog was still there, so dense I couldn’t see my feet. My image appeared in the mirror for a moment, before being replaced by the Nameless’. My father.

  “Hello, my ungrateful daughter.” He greeted me, sounding as if he was having fun.

  “If someone who doesn’t know you hears this, he will think you have many daughters.”

  “Yes. But, unfortunately, my only daughter, the one who should be my heiress, is against me. Besides, this body suits you far more than that delicate doll who assisted in binding me.”

  I stared at him and didn’t bother answering. I wouldn’t give him the pleasure of dragging a conversation that would soon become painful. I knew him. Instead, I focused on using my own power to strengthen the prison.

  “No, Kelene.” He said, his body suddenly projecting forward and out of the mirror.

  Before I could understand what was going on, he held me by the neck, using the same technique I used when I wanted to keep my victims from reacting. I soon felt my energy being pulled from me, and realized he was using my strength to finish releasing himself.

  I quickly analyzed my options: if he continued, he would kill me; if I called upon any of the powers of death, he would use its energy too. The only thing I could do was to warn Death and try to make him stop.

  I made the partial invocation that would let me share my thoughts with Death, and felt her shock when she understood what was happening. Then, allowing her to see everything, I concentrated on getting my father away from me and making him stop draining my energies.

  Suddenly, I felt a new strength inside me, something unknown. Instinctively, I pushed it away, the energy leaving my pores like an acid, burning the Nameless’ hands before turning into a wave and throwing him away. I saw him run toward the doors, open them, and then I lost consciousness.

  31. Lucio

  “Come, quickly!” Death repeated, offering me her hand.

  There was more than urgency in her voice, something I couldn’t identify, a contained emotion. But I didn’t move, I had no idea of what her intentions were.

  Then I felt a strange pressure on my mind, and heard Lilian the Seer’s voice, as if she was in front of me. “Go now, you don’t have much time! There’s something going on in the Sanctuary, not even all of us can get through the shield that has formed above it!”

  “You were right, but you need to come now! Kelene… Kelene is dying!” Death went on, and now I knew what was in her voice: fear.

  Without hesitation, I grabbed her hand and saw myself surrounded by the grayish light of death’s pathways, while she took me to the Sanctuary at an unbelievable speed.

  “What happened?” I asked, hoping she could explain what the witches hadn’t been able to identify.

  “The Nameless used Kelene’s lifeforce to release himself. She used something I don’t understand to throw him away, but whatever it is, it is blocking anyone who approaches her. If there is one exception, one person who can get through it, it will be you. The few energy she still has is draining quickly.”

  I didn’t say anything for a second. I had never felt such feat in all my existence, and didn’t know how to react. I could only wonder if we could go any faster. Kelene couldn’t die. Trying to keep the fear at bay, I asked the first thing that crossed my mind.

  “Why me? How can you be sure I’ll be able to approach her?”

  “Because she loves you.” Death answered, again with some emotion hidden in her voice.

  I didn’t say anything while I understood what those words meant, and if not for Death’s hold on me I would have stopped, surprised. I could barely believe it, but I knew that if one person knew the truth, it would be Death, and she would never lie in a moment like that.

  We arrived in front of the Sanctuary’s entrance. I ran to the Nameless’ chamber, feeling Death beside me. The doors were open, and the symbols that covered them weren’t recognizable. Undone. The imprisonments had been broken. I didn’t slow down until I was in the center of the chamber, where I felt the energy Kelene was irradiating, creating a circle without the fog that always filled the room around herself.

  “Not even I can go any further.” Death said as she halted.

  I stared at her for a moment, wondering what kind of strength was that, able to stop Death herself. Then, I moved forward. Kelene had fallen near the mirror, which had broken into millions of pieces. I couldn’t notice her breathing at first, and for a second I thought we had been too late, but just then she sighed softly and I used my enhanced senses to hear her weak heartbeat. I went to my knees beside her, my skin itching in reaction to the strong energy coming from her.

  “Kelene! Kelene, stop it, you’re not in danger anymore!” I begged, scared, realizing her energy could end anytime and then it would really be over.

  She seemed to hear my words, her eyelids fluttering, but she didn’t open her eyes.

  “Kelene, come back!”

  “Lucio?” She asked, her voice so soft I could barely hear it.

  “I’m here.” I answered, resisting the urge to touch her, as I had no idea of what that energy would do to me. “The danger is gone. Come back.”

  She sighed, and I felt all that energy rushing back to her. Her breathing became regular, but she was still unconscious.

  “Her spirit is at the boundary.” Death said, beside me. The concern in her voice surprised me. “I’m keeping her at this side of the Veils, but her body needs to be healed quickly.”

  “How?” I knew nothing about how to heal a body wounded by an energy drain – the kind of wound the Nameless had inflicted on her.

  “Emotion. Life.” Death whispered, without giving me a direct answer, but I understood what she meant.

  “Music and fire.” I remembered the fire circles and the huge power they could gather, ages ago.

  “And the Fae’s power. And the witches’ protection.” She nodded, kneeling beside Kelene and running a hand over her face.

  “I need a phone signal here.”

  She nodded, while I took my cell phone and called Avés. Death controlled everything inside her domains – if she said that the call would be completed, it would be.

  “Avés, we need you.” I said as soon as he answered.

  “What happened?” He asked, worried.

  “Kelene is dying; we need a circle of fire.”

  “The old Song of Day and Night. It’s the most powerful.” Death said, loudly enough to be heard by him.

  “Death herself?” The sidhe asked, and for
the first time I heard surprise in his voice. “Don’t bother answering. I’ll talk to all of ours who have healing abilities. But few still remember the song.”

  For a moment, that was almost enough to make me despair. But then I remembered something that gave me hope again. It was a slight possibility, but it meant there was still a chance.

  “I’ll find someone who remembers it. Where will you make the circle?”

  “In the ruins of the Old City. We’re already on our way.”

  He knew I would have no doubts about which city he meant, nor would Death. There were many ruins of old cities hidden by the Otherworld’s power, but the city that had been destroyed just before the Intervention became known only by that title, for some reason. I hung up and, before I could do anything, felt that strange pressure on my mind again.

  “We can’t feel Kelene. What happened?” It was the seer, again.

  I didn’t understand how that communication worked, so I only thought about what had happened there, hoping she would catch it all. Apparently it was enough, as she started speaking again.

  “We’ll be in the ruins and help protect you while you bring Kelene back.”

  “The Fae and the witches are on their way. To the Old City. Can you take Kelene while I find someone who knows the song?” I asked Death.

  She nodded, without looking away from Kelene. She didn’t even seem like the same creature I saw on the Intervention or when Kelene had negotiated my protection. Now she seemed more earthly, more real.

  “Use death’s pathways to find and bring your musicians. They’ll be open for you and no one else, now.”

  I left the Sanctuary, already calling another number, while asking all the Powers to be right.

  “Hello?” The energetic voice was easily recognizable.

  “Alice?” I sighed, mentally thanking Kelene’s insistence to save the girl’s number.

  “That’s me. Who is it?”

  “Lucio, Kelene’s roommate.”

  “Oh, hi, Lucio.” It was easy to notice her hesitation, as she had no idea of why I would call her.

  “I need your help. Kelene isn’t well and…” I hesitated, unsure about how to go on, as I didn’t know how much Kelene had told her.

  “She’s not well in a non-human sense? She quickly asked. “The kind that would need the Otherworld’s help?”

  “Exactly.” I didn’t even try to hide my relief. “The Fae will do whatever they can. They are preparing a fire circle. But I need people who know the Song of Day and Night, as not even them remember it, not fully.

  She didn’t answer for a while, and I heard her fast breathing. Obviously Kelene had taught her about the Otherworld, and maybe had taught the other young people of the complex as well.

  “You know the song.” She finally said. “It’s the one we sang in the bonfire. I’ll call all the guys.”

  “I’m on my way. I’ll take you to where the circle will be.”

  “We’ll be in the lawn.” She replied, before hanging up.

  32. Death

  Death should be above mortal weaknesses. However, arrogance was something so typically human that I never thought it a mistake I would commit. Pure arrogance. Kelene’s body in my arms weighted almost nothing, but the weight of her spirit trying to cross the Veils was greater than my whole existence – a reminder of how foolish I had been, of what I had almost caused… And of what could still happen because of me.

  I had allowed Death’s Sanctuary to weaken and be forgotten, even abandoned by one of its Keepers, without any consequence. I underestimated my greatest enemy, painting myself above his tricks when he had already fooled me once and escaped twice, and only in the first escape I had been able to bind him again. Now, after taking such long time preparing himself, I knew I wouldn’t be able to face the Nameless alone. My only hope of binding him again was Kelene, and I would be to blame if she didn’t survive until dusk.

  And this wasn’t the only reason why what had happened had affected me so much.

  Without saying a word, I handed her to the Fae man who approached when I arrived in the ruins. The fire was ready to be lit, carefully prepared, and Kelene was put in the center of the circle. I could feel her spirit trying to force her way, and her fury when I didn’t let her go. But I didn’t have any other option. I couldn’t let her die so easily, not when I was to blame.

  Soon Lucio was back, my loyal Keeper. I shouldn’t have ignored him, too. That was another mistake I had to correct. He had paid for what he caused, and once again I could feel his raw strength, increased by his concern about Kelene. Yes, he loved her. That was an anchor stronger than anything I could do to keep her alive.

  He glanced at me before going toward where people were gathering, the humans behind him looking around, apprehensive. Soon the musical instruments were in their hands, and I could hear some of the human women and two of the Fae men preparing their voices, already creating a melody of power, even though that wasn’t their intention.

  Kelene threw herself against the Veil, using all her strength, but I kept her on this side. I could feel her frustration, and almost heard her words. If I wanted so much to get rid of her, why not let her go at once? If she had been a problem forever, why not let her spirit leave this world? But I had never wanted to get rid of her, nor thought of her as a problem. Truthfully, she was my solution, but we were so different that we always had this impression about the other. All I’ve ever wanted was that she heard me. Now I understood why that had never been possible – to be heard I needed to hear her first… And I hadn’t done it even when she tried to warn me about a threat to my existence.

  The fire was lit, a circle around the woman’s body, the flames going higher than what was natural. A circle of fire, something the Fae hadn’t needed to make in the last centuries. And then the music started and I could feel the power flowing, weaved by the melody around the fire. The human woman who led the melody had no insecurity, didn’t hesitate in any moment, while more voices, humans and from the Fae, joined her and the instruments that clearly outlined all the nuances of the song.

  Kelene moved away from the Veil, the song bringing her closer to life once again. But it still wasn’t enough – that song was powerful, but without it’s full arrangement it wouldn’t be enough for what we needed there, not even with all the Fae’s power.

  I had made too many mistakes with Kelene, but this wouldn’t be one of them. Without hesitation, I move toward the circle, adding my voice to the song, chanting the melodic line no mortal had ever known.

  Part 2: Rebirth

  Death should be above mortal weaknesses. And now, Death would remember that she had once been mortal, and that not even she would be eternal.

  1. Kelene

  I had always been curious about the Veils, and now was in front of them. That was the boundary between life and death, the entrance to what we called the final death, a place to which I had sent many people but which I had never seen. In the past, when I died trying to kill Seth, my spirit had been sent to the place reserved to the best Hands, the ones Death might need again. But now it was really the end, and it was with relief that I approached that final barrier, knowing my time was over and there was nothing else I could do.

  Behind that boundary there was peace and oblivion, I could feel it. But I wasn’t able to cross it – Death kept me on this side of the Veils. Why? What was left for me in life? I had fullfiled my role! Then the memories came back in a whirlwind and I remembered Lucio, that night, and how my father had used me to escape. I still had one task left.

  I waited, beside the Veils but unable to cross them, watching what happened in life while my memories where slowly erased by the peaceful feeling that came from the Veils. Alice and all her friends from the complex were there, getting ready to sing and play. The Song of Day and Night? It wasn’t possible, I surely hadn’t been so wounded that I would need it!

  And then, again, I remembered… The strange energy inside
me, and the Nameless moving away with burned hands where he had been touching me, being thrown away by that invisible force; Death herself, unable to come closer. What had I done? What was I becoming?

  That feeling of peace and oblivion came to me again, taking away all my memories and inviting me to cross to the final death. I gathered all my strength and threw myself against the Veils, trying to win a battle of wills against Death. Why would she keep me there? A whisper of memory said she should let me go at once, as she had always considered me a problem. Yes, I was a problem that sometimes was useful, but still…

  No. I could feel her in contact with my spirit, knowing exactly what was going on in my mind. I wasn’t a problem, I just didn’t think like her, while she wanted to be always in control and expected me – foolishly – to always obey her. Her resistance made me remember it all again, and I held the memories close. I couldn’t let them be taken away again. In that moment I knew that, if I survived, my relationship with Death wouldn’t be the same.

  The music started, and it was really the Song of Day and Night. What had I done to need it? It was a legacy from the old times, one of the few melodies of power that had survived the Nameless’ war, and even then only in the Fae’s knowledge and fragmented. Avés had taught it to me when I was almost a child, and I had discovered some of the lines of the arrangement of power, even though I knew there was one line missing, the one melody that would join all the others, but which I was unable to find.

  I watched my neighbors, realizing they had quickly learned to bring power into a song. I was proud to see it was them leading the song, and not the Fae.