by S.M. Winter
same.”
“Eventually she couldn’t make them anymore,” Alexandar said back to him. “Because she didn’t have anything left inside. She couldn’t tell the difference between good and evil anymore. Logic was all that was left.”
Alexandar sat down with a thump.
“I should have seen it,” he put his head in his hands. “I should have prevented it.”
I kneeled down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
“What’s done is done,” I told him. “It’s time to move on and stop beating yourself up about what you couldn’t stop.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” he said. “You didn’t lose...”
He stopped and looked up at me. I couldn’t blame him for forgetting. I’d almost forgotten myself. The things I’d lost, the people I’d lost. The mission is all that was keeping me sane at the moment. In any other setting I would have considered this an entertaining thought that the fantasy could keep me from remembering my family. But when I considered about what my reality now consisted of it just seemed hurtful.
“I’m sorry,” Alexandar stood and pulled me in close.
I wanted to pull away but I knew he needed the comfort more than I did. I felt like I still needed to shut out the feelings for a bit but now that I remembered it was hard to close off the deep regrets and anger. Another reason to tear apart the Void. The sword seemed to shudder at my thoughts and edge closer to me.
When I looked over I saw that Valerie was watching me closely. I stepped away from Alexandar and smiled hollowly at him.
“What did you find?” I repeated the question of the night.
Instead of answering me directly, she smiled and addressed the book.
“What is the Angel’s Sword,” Valerie asked.
One book repeated the question in Hebrew, the other responded in the same language in which the first book repeated in English.
“The Angel’s Sword is a weapon forged in the lava pits deep within the Earth and given life by the four Elements,” it said.
“What Elements?” Valerie asked.
“Fire, Water, Air and Passage,” it repeated after a moment.
“Passage?” I asked.
“Time,” Chauncy answered.
“Why didn’t Earth help?” I asked the book.
“The Element of Earth embodies life and renewal,” the book answered. “The Element and the chosen Elemental refused to assist in creating a weapon to tip the balance of the world. The struggle between the Elements and the Void is a fact of life and death.”
“That sounds foreboding,” Alexandar frowned. “Why are we fighting if there’s no winning?”
“You know why,” Chauncy said.
Alexandar sighed and scrubbed a hand across his face.
“I need a break,” he said and turned to leave. “Let me know if you find out anything I need to know.”
I frowned after him as he walked out the door, knocking over a couple piles of books on his way out. I needed to get to the bottom of that but the information at hand was much too important to walk away from at the moment.
“Why is it called the Angel’s Sword?” I asked the book.
“That nickname was created after stories were written about a flaming sword that guarded the entrance to a secret garden known as Eden,” the book said. “The stories were reinforced when there was a very public fight between the Void and the Elementals in two cities called Sodom and Gomorrah.”
“Are you telling me that the Angels in the Bible are actually Elementals?” The book didn’t respond of course.
“I think that’s the case,” Chauncy nodded.
“How many swords were made?” I asked the book.
“Four,” it replied.
“Where are they?”
“They were lost during a great battle,” the book said. “In which every Elemental was killed.”
“I wonder if Earth has changed its mind about the use of the sword since then,” I mumbled, more to myself, but Valerie responded regardless.
“It’s funny you should say that,” she smiled. “Because we found something else while we were looking.”
“Which Elementals died in the battle?” Chauncy asked the book,
“Fire, Air, Water, Earth, Passage, Pain, Vortex, Stratos, and Helix,” the book responded.
“What were the last four?” I asked.
“We think they are the Agents of the Void,” Chauncy could barely contain his excitement.
“Pain, Vortex, Stratos and Helix,” I repeated. “But if everyone died, how was the information passed on?”
“We have a theory on that,” Valerie looked to Chauncy.
“I told you that when all the Elementals die then one of the Elements takes human form for a short period of time to school the new Elemental right?” Chauncy scratched the back of his head as I nodded. “Did I mention that I was one of the most recent of those new Elementals? This has happened more than once in the past.”
“You met an Element?” My mouth must have been hanging agape because he chuckled.
“Yes,” he nodded. “I happened to come into my power at a time when the past Elementals had all been exterminated.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know all the specifics,” he looked around for a chair and sat. “Just that it was bad, really bad. He came to me as a missionary. At first I was resistant, of course, but once I began to believe he scooped me up and we came here. I found out that the Sanctuary was the only safe place for the Elements in their vulnerable form. After I learned the basics he tasked me with a mission: Find the others and learn together. It took a few years to get everyone together but we did it.”
“You did it,” Valerie walked over and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning in.
“True,” he smiled up into her eyes. Their love was so deep I could feel the echoing reverberations in the room.
“So,” I cleared my throat. “What’s your theory?”
“Oh,” Chauncy blinked like he’d forgotten I was there. “Right.”
Tongue in cheek, I smiled at them both. They seemed to be so wrapped up in each other they forgot what was happening around them.
“We think that when all the Agents die the Void must also take human form to pass on its information,” Valerie laughed breathlessly. She could barely contain the information.
“But if that’s the case,” the wheels were turning in my mind. “Then we might be able to kill the Void.”
“Exactly,” Chauncy beamed at me like I was his prized pupil.
“I have to go tell Alexandar,” I turned to leave. “This is amazing!”
I found him in the hot springs floating on his back. I watched as he let himself be cradled by the water.
A clear objective was all that our team seemed to be lacking. We knew we had to fight the Agents but it seemed to be a never ending fight. What if it didn’t need to be? What if we could finish this fight? It was an exciting thought, that we could live normal lives again. What would that look like?
An image surfaced in my mind of myself, pregnant and laughing at something with Alexandar. A Nobel Prize sat on the mantel for quantum physics and its practical applications for everyday life. My research had been grounded in how the keys worked. Something I discovered during my time at the Sanctuary from studying the doors. I sighed as the image faded away. Who was I kidding? No life could be normal after this.
I stripped down to the bikini I was wearing under my clothes and joined him while he floated. I could tell he knew I was there but he didn’t look over or acknowledge my presence. I shrugged and lifted my legs, treading water for a bit before I laid flat. The water covered my ears and I listened to the flow of the water and my own breathing. I closed my eyes and just floated. I felt movement next to me but ignored it. However, when I was lifted out of the pool and into his arms it was hard to pretend I didn’t notice. I glared at him, but it was difficult to keep a straight face when he was looking at me so intensely. I burst
out laughing, which didn’t seem to please him overmuch.
“What’s so funny?” Alexandar frowned.
“Just how serious we are,” I sighed. “You know, most people our age are sneaking around getting drunk, having just started college.”
He set me down in the water so I could stand on my own.
“Did you do a lot of partying in college?” He ran a hand through his wet hair. It hung near to his shoulders with the messy curls weighted down with water.
I wasn’t sure why but that question struck me as particularly entertaining. I laughed so hard I inhaled water and began choking, which of course had Alexandar laughing as well. When I’d finally spewed the offending water and gained my breath back. I watched him laugh. My heart dropped into my stomach then jumped into my throat. It was pounding so loud I could feel it pulsing in my ears. This was the first time I had ever seen him completely at ease. There had been glimpses before like when I’d seen him playing in the music room. But this was pure, unadulterated joy bouncing around the room, and it was emanating from him. It made my heart sing. As corny as it sounds that was exactly how it felt, as if his genuine laughter ignited something within me.
Before he’d finished I moved over to him and put my hands on his shoulders. When he looked at me, the laughter still in his eyes, he smiled as I’d never seen him. I couldn’t help myself. I covered my mouth with his and let the singing out. I kissed him with everything I had and hoped it would be enough. I wasn’t sure what I was offering to him but it seemed like something very important. So when he pulled away and the longing warred with reason, I let him. I was hurt. I didn’t know why. There was no