Enlightenment (Children of Ankh series Book 2)

by Kim Cormack

  Kayn announced, “We’re doing this wrong. I can feel it. We have to stop running away from things.”

  Zach was visibly in excruciating pain from the melted skin on his back. He managed to find his sense of humor through his agony as he teased, “You can feel it? That’s good to hear. I thought we were going to be forced to stage an exorcism.”

  Kayn replied, “The next version of death we come across I’ll prove my theory to you.” Kayn strolled over to one of the walls. She hovered the palm of her hand in front of it for a second and said, “Not this way.” She walked to the side wall. Her stomach winced and her skin began to crawl. She announced, “There’s something bad in this direction. We need to accept whatever fate lies on the other side of this wall.” She didn’t give them an opportunity to respond as she asked, “Door, please open.”

  The wall on the other side opened graciously. They stepped through the threshold without hesitation. The wall ominously slid closed behind them. Their path was blocked by a majestic gray-colored creature. It appeared to be part lizard and part lion. The lion’s mane had every hair perfectly in place, giving the appearance of being carved out of stone.

  Zach looked at Kayn and exclaimed, “I hope you’re right about this.”

  “I thought you said it was a scorpion tiger?” Melody whispered as she gingerly backed away from the beast.

  “The last one was a scorpion tiger... this is new,” Kayn replied. She could see the excitement in the salivating creature’s eyes. Kayn glanced behind her and whispered, “Don’t act like you’re afraid.”

  “You’re backing up too,” Zach fired back.

  Kayn whispered, “Not for the same reasons as you are. We need to stay together. It can’t be just me that dies. We all have to make this sacrifice. We’re only postponing the inevitable. It will take longer to get out if one of us misses a version of death.”

  “What if you’re wrong? What if you’re supposed to use your gift and blow the frigging abomination up?” Melody stammered, grasping at straws. Zach and Melody kept gingerly backing away and Kayn had to stay with them. The two continued to back up until all three of them were flush against the wall.

  “I think I understand what’s going on in here. If it freezes us, I’m right,” Kayn whispered. She’d figured out the concept of the Testing. She just had to get the others to play along. “It’ll be a quick death,” she added.

  Zach quietly replied, “You’re far too comfortable with that idea Brighton.” He questioned, “What if it’s planning on eating us?”

  “I’ve already been eaten today...Nice kitty,” Melody musically preened, unable to move an inch further, she closed her eyes while mentally preparing for the horror that was about to unfold. Mel desperately pleaded, “Door, open...please, just open up and let us out!” She opened her eyes and met Kayn’s. Melody attempted a brave smile as she said, “It’s not going to let us out, is it?”

  Kayn replied, “We could have chosen one of the easier ways to be frozen and didn’t, now did we Mel? You’ve already been eaten today. If I’m right, it won’t eat you.”

  The creature cocked its head, its eyes glinted. It almost smiled as though it understood their conversation.

  “Maybe, you shouldn’t have said that out loud,” Zach whispered.

  Kayn stepped forward and boldly announced, “I don’t think it matters what we say.”

  Melody grabbed for her arm and stammered, “What in the hell are you doing? You don’t need to ask for it.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I think this Testing is about facing your fears and making it to the other side of them. If it has to carry through with whatever it’s here to do, why not speed things up a little?” Kayn bravely suggested. It wasn’t that she wasn’t terrified as she took another step closer to the creature but she’d come to understand that the outcome was inevitable.

  Melody stepped away from the wall. She grabbed the cloth on the back of Kayn’s sarong and clung to it with her fingertips as she forced herself to take another step closer along with her friend. Melody repeated Kayn’s earlier words, “It’s only going to freeze us?”

  Zach, following the girls’ lead, took a hesitant step towards the beast and whispered, “Freezing doesn’t sound that bad. I almost wish we hadn’t taken a breather. It feels like we’re starting over.”

  Melody hissed, “Bite your tongue!”

  With brilliant comic timing, the lion hissed like a snake and a lengthy slick black forked tongue protruded, swaying from between its powerful jaws.

  Kayn shivered as hair prickled up on every inch of her exposed skin. The creature began to choke. It appeared to have something lodged in its throat. It hacked and coughed until a large round ball of something travelled up and out of its throat, into its mouth. The creature bit down with its fangs and sprayed a fine mist of white fluid at the three. The reaction moved rapidly up Kayn’s arms, crackling a tortuous icy path to her shoulders, then her torso. Her chest squeezed as it began to solidify. Her heart was being constricted. It was agonizingly painful. It echoed in her ears as her heartbeat slowed and finally ceased with her eyes still open and her mind, completely aware. They stood together as three frozen statues of bravery, joined by their hands and hearts. Kayn stood in front, with Melody positioned slightly behind her, still grasping her sarong. Zach had his hand on Melody’s arm. He’d been frozen solid while attempting to pull them out of the way. It had happened so quickly. They were all alert under the agonizingly painful slowly constricting ice they’d been encased in.

  The monster approached Kayn. It stared into her eyes. She wouldn’t have flinched, even if she’d been able to. Her spirit didn’t waver as she thought. I’m not afraid. There was something in the beast’s eyes that made her sure it heard her thoughts. She was proud and she had the sense that the beast was proud of her. It was a strange sensation to feel a moment before something finishes you off. It roared inches from her face. She saw the hairs on its mane waver for the first time. It smiled with its eyes and smacked her with a powerful claw. In soul jarring agony, Kayn exploded into tiny pieces and disintegrated into the air of the crypt.

  Kayn awoke on the floor of the room she’d been killed in. Melody was usually the first one awake, but not this time. Kayn’s brain was pounding as she forced herself to sit up and clutched either side of her head. She noticed that both Melody and Zach were completely still. It felt strange being the first one to wake. It was an isolating feeling. This must be how Melody felt each time she had to wait for them to rise. Kayn noticed that the bread was missing from inside of her sarong and the crimson feather was absent from her waist. Well, taking those things had been pointless.

  Melody mumbled from her face down position on the stone floor, “That sucked.”

  Kayn remembered her epiphany. She stated, “I think once each of us has died in every way, we can get out.”

  Melody smiled weakly as she sat up and commented, “That means Zach and I still have to drown. We’ve all just completed freezing.” The two girls rose to stand as Zach began to stir. They gave him a moment before urging him to get up. Once Zach regained his balance they left.

  As they darted through a sliding wall Kayn added, “I’ve fallen and I think I’ve been eaten. Well, I was out cold at the time. I hope that counted. We’ve all been stabbed. I haven’t been tortured yet so I would imagine that’s still on my anti-bucket list.” They turned down a corridor with sand on the floor and torches that lit up the length of it. Kayn wandered over and removed a torch from the wall and announced, “Grab one. The torches can be used as a weapon. I didn’t think of that last time.”

  Melody removed one from the wall as she whispered, “There are thousands of ways to die. What if we add things to the list by thinking about them?”

  Kayn’s stomach clenched again. She suspected their reprieve from the violence was almost over. She could tell by the others expressions that they’d felt the same thing. Kayn sighed, “What comes next?”

  “Enough
you two. I get it.” Zach complained. “We’re supposed to embrace the insanity, but we don’t have to go out of our way to create messed-up situations. Don’t even let anything else cross your mind. We don’t even know what’s going to happen. This Testing could be no big deal. It could be easy.” There was an expression of confusion in Zach’s eyes.

  Melody froze. She clarified, “What did you just say?”

  Kayn felt waves of nausea wash over her. It wasn’t because something was coming. It was because something was going. They were close to losing Zach. He needed to be Enlightened. He was losing his mind.

  He answered cautiously, “I don’t even know what you guys are talking about. I dropped through the ceiling five minutes ago.”

  “Is that the last thing you remember?” Mel asked.

  Zach responded, “We had an amazing week. The others came back. We fell through a giant hovering slab of stone?”

  Kayn recalled something she’d been told after she had awakened from her coma. Her doctor had said, "The human mind can only take so much before it begins to shut down. It shuts down to protect itself.” Lexy had said something similar during their training in the in-between. She spoke, “Zach, we’ve been in here for a long time. Do you remember when we were forced to keep jumping off that cliff together in the in-between? We were being trained by Lexy. Your brain is shutting down.”

  He knew to trust her. He responded, “How did I die last? Maybe, if you tell me it will jog something?”

  “We were just spit on and freeze-dried by a lion lizard.” Kayn answered honestly.

  “Sorry I asked,” Zach stated as he began checking his body for injuries.

  He really didn’t remember anything. He had to. They need him.

  With a blank expression, Zach questioned, “How long have we been in here?”

  Melody’s eyes teared up as she replied, “We don’t know. We’ve lost track of time.”

  “Heal his mind. You have to at least try,” Kayn calmly urged.

  Mel faced her as she answered, “If I were capable of healing Zach’s mind, I would have healed yours.”

  The gravity of the situation began to sink in. They couldn’t leave unless they were all together. Once they’d all emotionally checked out, they’d become trapped in this place. The realization hit them both. This is how it starts. Kayn cupped Zach’s face with her hands and gave it to him straight, “We can’t leave without you. You can’t check out. You’re the only one that can bring me back. We can’t do this without you. We’ll be trapped in here.”

  He sweetly touched both of Kayn’s hands as he declared, “In my mind we just got here. I feel completely fine. Maybe, it’s a good thing. Have I been Enlightened yet?”

  They had to find a way to get him back. What if he had to redo everything because he didn’t remember? Kayn met Mel’s eyes in a panic.

  Melody nodded at Kayn as she tapped Zach on the shoulder. He spun around and she stepped forward and planted a seriously seductive kiss on his lips that continued for a minute or two longer than it should if it was really for experimental purposes. Kayn began to wonder if she needed to remind them that they weren’t alone. Mel pulled away and left Zach standing there shocked.

  As he regained his faculties, he beamed and teased, “Oh little lady. Now, I’m going to be on you like a fungus.”

  Melody smacked his arm and scolded, “I’m serious Zach! Don’t you even consider checking out on us! We need you! If I have to follow you to hell and beat the shit out of you for leaving me, I will!”

  They embraced as he chuckled, “Mel, that was a little bit hostile, but sort of beautiful.” He cupped her face gently in his hands and whispered, “We’re all getting out of here together. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

  Kayn had been quietly following their exchange while gazing down at the flickering flame at the end of the torch she was holding. She pulled her eyes away from the entrancing fire, looked at Zach and said, “We have to accept each version of death by staying together as we die.”

  “You realize how insane that sounds?” Zach teased.

  Melody’s eyes met Zach’s as she pointed out, “You said it first, embrace the insanity.”

  Kayn balanced the torch between her legs as she placed her fingers in the grooves in the wall and announced, “Are you two ready to die?” The door slid open, revealing another long empty corridor. As they began walking down it, vents opened up on the ceiling and water began streaming in. “I’ve done this one already, more than once,” Kayn sighed as the water level rose. “Just be calm and submit to it. It’s almost painless and really fast. Don’t fight it or you’ll have to do it again.” The room filled much faster than it had when she’d been alone. There was no point in holding onto the torch. It was a pointless prop. She dipped it into the water and listened to it hiss. It wasn’t long before they were treading water together. Why in the hell did she have to do this one again? Something large brushed past her leg. She felt it again and all she had time to think was, oh shit! as something sunk its teeth into her leg and yanked her under. She wished she’d just closed her eyes the second she was pulled under but she looked as the scaly shark-like creature that flung her around by her legs. Hurry up and drown. It’s going to eat you. She wasn’t afraid. She inhaled the water, trying to speed up the process but understood, it needed to happen for them to move on as a group. They had to drown and she had to be eaten. She repeatedly screamed into the water releasing nothing but bubbles while purging her soul altering agony as the savage jaws tore into her abdomen. Her mind began whispering, shut it down… Don’t fight it… Let go. Her ability to feel pain turned off as her torso was torn to shreds and ingested. Don’t fight it or this will happen again.

  When Kayn was pulled under, the other two panicked believing they were next on the menu as a cloud of brilliant red exploded beneath them. They fought the drowning instead of surrendering to it and tried to climb out of the vents, which of course, closed on them. They awoke on the floor. Soaking wet and gasping for breath in unison.

  “Well, that was extremely unpleasant,” Kayn croaked. The vents opened and the corridor began to fill. Kayn cursed, “You are both enormous assholes! It doesn’t even hurt. You couldn’t just die frigging peacefully? I’m going to be so pissed if I get eaten again!” The cool water was up to her knees already. Kayn looked at her legs and grimaced, knowing how this was going to go down.

  Zach stammered, “Okay in all fairness, you got eaten right in front of us. Tell me you wouldn’t freak out if I got eaten in front of you?”

  Their feet left the ground. They began to tread water again. Something brushed up against Kayn’s leg. No! Come on! Shit, this was going to suck! “You assholes!” Kayn swore as the creature sunk its razor-sharp teeth into her flesh and yanked her under the surface of the water. As its teeth tore into her flesh and scraped on her bones every nerve ending began shrieking, torched with blinding agony as a red cloud of her own blood exploded around her. The trauma ceased as the pain shut down. One of her limbs floated past her line of vision. She squeezed her eyes closed as she inhaled the metallic tasting crimson water and let go.

  They all awoke gasping for air, with their skin and hair dry.

  “I’m so sorry,” Melody apologized.

  Kayn stood up, ran her fingers through her wild curly mane of hair and turned around to give them both a very lion-like, predatory glare. She winked and teased, “That’s what karma’s for.” Neither of them bothered to defend their actions. What could be said in the moments after something ate you? There was nothing that could make it better, especially after you’d been eaten two times in a row. It was an experience with no comparison. Melody was visibly upset. They embraced as Kayn mocked Mel’s earlier words, “You can’t be held responsible for anything you do while under the influence of magic.”

  Zach sweetly enquired, “Can I get in on this?” As he joined in on their embrace, he whispered, “I wonder what’s going to happen next?”

  Kayn shot
Zach a deranged look.

  Demons and Monarch Butterflies

  They continued to walk down endless hallways of stone until their minds numbed with the monotony of it all. Were the other clans still stuck in the sleep chambers? Surely, they would be free by now? A monarch butterfly passed them as it flitted its way down through the crypt. They began to follow it, drawn to the magnetic pull of its delicate beauty. A touch of wonder in a land of exile made of stone. A wall slid away and revealed something miraculous. A sight Kayn’s mind had been longing for. They followed the brilliant orange and black monarch into a plush grassy field. It was exquisitely beautiful. It felt like a trap. The three stood, knowing they should turn around and leave. It was difficult to convince their minds of that with the glorious scent of spring in the air. Kayn’s heart whispered, No, don’t go yet. The monarch landed on the back of her hand. They gathered around to watch it wander across her skin. Kayn’s stomach began to turn. She made eye contact with her friends.

  Melody whispered, “We need to leave.”

  Zach added, “I second that motion.”

  They turned to go but there was no sign of the stone they’d entered through and nothing but wondrous meadow in every direction as far as the eye could see.

  This time it was Zach that pointed out their dilemma as he said, “We can’t leave. We made the choice to come in here. It has to play out.”

  Kayn noticed the bees underfoot. She was busy staring at the bumble bees when she felt something pinch her hand. The monarch flew away and the back of her hand was bleeding. That was weird? A small bead of blood began to expand in size on the back of her hand. Kayn stated in her confusion, “Butterflies don’t bite,” In the distance thousands of monarchs took off out of the field of green. It looked like they were going to flit off in the opposite direction. They turned around and headed straight towards the three Ankh.

  Zach stated, “Really? Now it’s death by monarch butterfly?”