by J. D. Netto
Devin and I quickly headed outside and mounted our horses. We hurriedly galloped away from the village. I looked up and noticed the clouds were moving in a circular motion like a tornado of darkness. From everywhere, Shadows were springing forth, attacking every house, and killing every woman, infant and child. The screams were deafening.
Fear unleashed its deadly tentacles within me. I looked around in despair. There were too many of them; too many Shadows for us to defeat. They filled the air with their roars. Above us, three Shadows appeared out of the clouds mounted on Desert Dragons and chased after us with incessant fury.
“You cannot run. There is no hiding…I will never cease to search for you…” The sound of many voices whispered to me, heckling me and pounding my eardrums. I could tell by Devin’s reaction that he could hear them as well. The beasts growled fiercely, but they did not attack us.
“Flee…flee…you can run but you can’t hide from me…” The whispers continued.
The moment we crossed the border of the village, the Shadows came to a rapid halt. The whispers faded into the atmosphere.
My heart beat at rapid speed the moment we stopped. I alighted from my horse. My knees began to knock together; my feet would not support my weight, as I was unable to stand upright.
“Why did they stop hunting us?” I asked, enraged. “No!” I yelled at the Shadows. “Leave them alone, come after us.” Sweat drifted down my forehead as I shouted with all the strength in me. I did not know if the trembling of my body was because of my rage or my fear.
“Why aren’t they coming after us?” I stammered. “It is me you want…I am here!”
“Isaac, please calm down. They stopped—”
“If we hadn’t come this way they would not have died,” I snapped as I shook Devin’s shoulders.
Devin shrugged with a sigh of resignation.
“Do you really think the Shadows would not have killed them either way, Isaac?”
I was frustrated. We could’ve kept on going. We could have ignored Abhel and continued on. Maybe he and all the others would have survived. Maybe the Shadows would have followed us outside of the village. These thoughts raced through my mind.
“We shouldn’t have followed Abhel. We should have kept our pace when we first encountered those people…” I felt as worthless as a scummy rat. Guilt swirled inside of me. I felt rage. At that moment, I sensed that I had made a devastating mistake that cost untold lives and misery.
“I made a mistake. I should have taken Nephele up on her offer. All of these lives would have been spared if I had. Why do they have to die like this?” I declared with uncontrolled fury.
Devin walked closer to me. I could see black smoke rising up from the direction of the village. In a flash, I averted my eyes from the scene.
“You are not making sense, Isaac. Please stop this rambling.”
I was still for a moment.
“Devin, maybe if I just surrender they will stop these massacres,” I said between low sobs, tears descending down my cheeks.
Devin was silent. I could still hear faint screams coming from the village. He placed both of his hands on his forehead and closed his eyes.
“Isaac.” His voice was low. “Read my soul.”
I was reluctant to concentrate my energy on his thoughts. For some reason, I always evaded reading Devin. Maybe I was fearful of the things I would discover about him.
“I’d rather not,” I quipped in a broken voice.
“Please…”
As I slowly closed my eyes to read him I felt my heartbeat slow down, my sight and hearing becoming dim, and I felt as though I was being sucked up into his mind. Faintly, the sound of numerous voices bellowed in my ear. Through a mist, I saw a war taking place at the base of a mountain. The Fallen and the Stars were engaged in battle, warring against each other. Both armies were skillful warriors dressed in their magnificent armors. There was a stark contrast between both armies; a black, rusty armor clothed the Fallen Stars, but the Stars were covered in glistening silver. Amidst the battle, I heard the distinct sound of a lion roaring. Everything stopped and all eyes were fixed on the glorious ray of light that hovered above them. The light cast down flames of fire upon all, but only the Fallen Stars burned. They shrieked and yelled as they were consumed by fire. Darkness began to spread until it covered the entire sky.
The thought shifted. I saw one of the villages of Elysium under the night sky. Men and women joyfully talked around a fire as their children played. Eerie shouts echoed in the background as the dark sky began to shine as bright as day. Out of the illuminated sky, the Fallen Stars descended onto Elysium, falling like shooting stars. When their bodies touched the ground, it caused massive explosions to take place. The village turned into ruins; its inhabitants dissolved into ash as the explosion mushroomed.
The striking image of a child appeared. Due to the facial traits of the baby, I recognized the child was Devin when he was younger. I entered into a green pasture filled with many infants who were lying next to their mothers. They all had similar characteristics to Devin such as the shape of their eyes, their skin and their flawless beauty.
His mind then directed my eyes to look to the sky. Dark shapes appeared from the clouds, heading toward them. I could hear the women’s terrified screams as they tried to escape. They each held on to their babies, making their way to the shelter of the trees. The dark beings mercilessly attacked the women, killing them one by one, leaving only the babies behind.
A flaming black being appeared. My body weakened as I looked upon it. The dark being was surrounded by lightning and fire. Its deathlike glare would have caused even the bravest soul to quiver in fear.
When the vision had vanished, I noticed sweat was dripping in rivulets down my forehead.
“Do you still think there is a possibility that if you give your blood you will spare these people?” asked Devin in a low, somber voice.
My breathing was heavy. I was not expecting to see the images I had just experienced.
“The darkness surrounded…by…lightning and fire…was…that…Lucifer?” I was panting.
He lowered his head. “Yes. The other dark shapes were Fallen Stars…our fathers.” His eyes widened. “After the fall, Lucifer would not tolerate his servants cohabitating with the women. Thus all our mothers died…and became Shadows. This was a surety that the Fallen Stars could have their ‘lovers’ closer to them.”
I was speechless. There was so much I did not know about Elysium’s history. I felt worthless. I had no right to question if I had made the right choice. I had to remain strong and continue to pursue the goal of uniting the kingdoms to fight against the Darkness. Though now I feared that the Darkness had already gotten to the kingdoms and bribed them to fight against the Creator.
“You may find this statement surprising, but have faith that we will honor our allegiance to Raziel and the other Underwarriors,” Devin addressed me, resting his hand on my shoulder.
More than ever, I felt in my heart the urgency to reach Aloisio. I was uncertain as to what we would find, or what would happen to us there, but if trusting my instinct that this was the right path to take, I had to be willing to follow it.
XIII
We rode away from the village of Adhelina and ventured into the forest. After traveling some distance, we reached the sea. I had never seen anything like it. Gigantic mountain ranges touched the sky. The mountains surrounded the shoreline as far as the eye could see.
Situated at the crest of the mountains were ruins, which looked majestic, covered in the glistening white snow. In the middle of the sea stood an enormous statue resembling a Star with a spear in its hand. Though I was too far away to make out the details of the statue, I noticed it had six wings.
“Now this is a sight to behold,” Devin remarked, mesmerized by the view.
As soon as Devin said those words, the ground trembled rhythmically as the sound of beating drums filled the air. Immediately, I glanced around, hoping to sp
ot the location the beats emerged from, but all seemed normal.
The beating grew louder. I became fearful of what could be happening.
Then I heard them again—voices whispering to me through the gentle breeze. The same voices I had heard back at the village of Adhelina.
“I have seen your heart…I have seen who you are…you are ours…” they said in a perfect melody.
I placed my hands over my ears, trying to drown out the voices of the whispers, but they were unrelenting.
As I tried to stifle the voices in my head, I was surprised to see small red glowing flakes descending from the sky. I turned my gaze upward and saw many falling upon us. They were shaped like snowflakes, pulsating with a soft golden glow.
“Do you hear them, Isaac?” Devin asked with wide eyes and a fearful expression.
“You can hear them as well?” I asked. “Do you hear what they are saying to me?” The whispers grew to a low roar and flowed in unison with the beat of the drums.
Devin’s breathing grew heavier as his eyes became dark and hollow.
“What are they saying to you, Devin?” I inquired as I watched him.
“They…say…that we are doomed,” he said weakly. “They…say…you will…perish…” His voice trailed off as a blank stare overtook his face.
“Devin, please. What is happening to you?”
The horses neighed loudly, making a ruckus. My horse’s breathing increased in intensity; the pigment of its pupils changed from ebony into an iridescent white. I quickly got down from my horse. It let out a low grunting noise and fled to the woods.
I heard a loud thud of something fall to the ground. I looked down, bewildered, to find Devin lying on the ground, immobile; his horse also fled in the direction of the trees. I could hear the drumming sounds and the whispers growing louder.
The small glowing lights strategically positioned themselves around us. I peered cautiously into one that floated next to me. To my grim surprise I was looking at a face, one that struck my heart with terror. It was Corbin.
The beating of the drums ceased; the whispers faded.
A feeling of isolation crept inside of me. I did not know what was happening; neither did I know what was to come.
The silence was chilling, making me very uncomfortable. I glanced at Devin still lying on the ground. His eyes were wide open and he muttered random words I could not decipher the meaning of. With my powers, I tried to read Devin and my surroundings, but I was unable to see anything.
“Why won’t you answer me?” I said in a loud voice as I shook Devin’s unresponsive body.
The whispers started their repeated chants once more.
“I have seen your heart…I have seen who you are…you are ours…” they continued.
Slowly, I bent down and picked Devin up. The whispers incessantly repeated the same haunting sentence over and over again. I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath, and expanded my wings. I anticipated my body being struck by unbearable pain, but my flight was uninterrupted.
The red lights followed me. I veered from right to left eagerly trying to evade them, but they seemed to know my every move.
My wings fluttered violently as I tried to gain more speed.
“I have seen your heart…” they exclaimed loudly.
“Devin…” I softly mumbled his name.
I could feel something buzzing in my ear. Before I was able to react, one of the small lights entered my head. Its chanting voices howled within me, drowning out every other sound.
“Devin!” I shouted with the strength I had left within me. I looked down, but he was still out cold.
“Wake up! Please…” I screamed in terror. The voice inside my head was causing torturous throbbing. Another light made its way into my head, causing the noises from the voices to sound more like a loud roar. The pain was so sharp that I accidentally released Devin’s body. I placed my hands over my ears and screamed.
“You are ours…ours…ours…” the voices repeated. I soon realized that I was falling, plunging rapidly toward the water. I felt someone grab my arm, pulling me upward. The voices were still blaring inside of my head. It felt almost as if they were devouring part of my brain.
I was being carried upward at an amazing speed, but just as suddenly as a heartbeat, I began to fall again. I tried to open my eyes, but I was not able to. My senses faded as the voices grew even louder.
My body splashed into the bitter-cold water. I struggled to try to get my arms to respond. I needed them to function so that I could swim to the surface, but despite my frantic efforts, they were unresponsive. My body was quickly sinking.
As my mind came to the realization that I was drowning, something grabbed ahold of me again and pulled me out of the frigid water. As I inhaled, the voices and the throbbing disappeared. When I opened my eyes, the small red lights were gone. I glanced up at the astonishing sight of Devin flying above me. He flapped his wings graciously. They gleamed as they maneuvered expertly; his dark feathers resembled those of a crow. My wings dangled idly at my back. I tried to move them, but they did not respond to my body’s command.
The details of the statue became more visible as we approached it. Its grayish color and the corrosion were hidden under the fallen snow.
We landed swiftly at the foot of the statue. I rubbed my shoulders with my hands in an attempt to warm myself up, but my efforts were in vain. My clothes were drenched. I looked around and wondered where the small red lights had gone.
I looked at Devin, eagerly waiting for him to speak.
“How…Um…When were you planning to tell me you could fly?” I asked, my curiosity piqued.
He lowered his head and spoke.
“Never,” he affirmed without hesitation. He scrutinized his wings; his face emanated sorrow.
I stared at him, confused.
“What happened… Wh-why d-d-did you pass out?” I asked him.
“The lights loosed voices inside of my head… They spoke very loudly to me. It was unbearable. I have never felt anything quite like it,” Devin said, his right hand caressing the dark feathers of his left wing.
“I-I-I-looked inside one of the small red lights,” I said, shivering. “I saw Corbin’s face.”
Both of his wings retracted, shrinking back and folding under his skin. His eyes never met mine.
“Why did you not want to tell me about your wings?” I asked. “How did you get them? Do all Nephilins fly?”
“It is an inherited trait like that of a human having blue eyes. If your parents possess the trait, you will most likely possess it also. Some of us carry very distinctive features from our Star fathers,” Devin explained in a low voice.
“What else have you hidden from me, Devin? Are there any other secrets you’ve been holding back that you would like to share with me?” I asked, taking a few steps back. “I thought I could trust you enough to not have to resort to reading you.”
“I wonder why the whispering lights disappeared the moment we approached the statue,” Devin answered, diverting from the subject of his undisclosed secrets. I pretended not to notice.
I looked to my right and caught sight of dark muddy walls that protruded upward on the far side of the sea.
“Aloisio?” I asked.
“Yes, there it lies,” he said.
To my surprise, Devin clasped his hands together and he softly chanted words I couldn’t understand. When he opened his hands, there were small flames in his palms. He walked toward me and placed the flames on my right shoulder.
“This should help your coldness,” he said. My body warmed up instantaneously. My clothes were dry, and even my hair was no longer damp.
“We will rest for a while and then we fly,” I said. Devin grunted. I knew he was not fond of the idea of flying again, but we had no other choice.
“Would you rather go on foot?” I asked as he walked away from me. He didn’t answer.
I wanted to arrive at Aloisio without much delay so that we could unite
as many people as possible to fight against the Darkness, but my heart felt troubled and restless. I had not been able to read Devin when I needed information during the appearance of the red lights. Were my powers failing me? What were those red lights? Despite all the rushing thoughts in my mind, I knew I needed to rest for what was to come.
I slowly reclined my head against the statue and closed my eyes.
I saw myself walking through a forest. The vegetation was dense. My feet sank into the muddy floor. There were no sounds of the wind blowing nor of any animals. I used my sword to cut the branches and the foliage that blocked my path. An unexpected mist enveloped me. Distant whispering voices spoke undecipherable words into the air. As I journeyed through the mist, I caught a glimpse of a castle. Three colossal towers stood on their own, surrounding the front of the castle. I was surprised when I saw a lion statue in the middle tower. I looked intensely to be certain I wasn’t hallucinating. The closer I walked to the castle, the more visible the details of the castle became. This was the castle of Justicia.
The place looked abandoned. There was no light coming from the windows; the white walls were cracked and the moat had been reduced to piles of rubble. I flew toward the entrance, slowly stepping inside. The white marble floors and huge columns were still intact, along with the captivating staircase. All was quiet and ostensibly calm.
From behind me I heard footsteps. I glanced over my shoulder; my hand grasped onto my sword’s handle. Demetre appeared from the darkness, holding the Diary, slowly walking in my direction. My body froze; I stood speechless.
“You cannot escape, Isaac.” Once again, I heard voices whispering around me. In a flash, Demetre’s body melted like ice under heat and from the remains of his decomposed body, his fallen form, Corbin, arose. His piercing red gaze struck me with fear. I saw Nephele walking out from the shadows. Her blue eyes were fixated on me. Her skin was as pale as snow.
“I will always find you, Isaac.” Her voice was deep and ominous. “Your blood is ours. The Dark One owns your mind.” The images in my mind dissipated instantly.