by Travis Bughi
“I’m going to kill you for this,” Emily said. “Mark my words. I will kill you for this.”
“You’re not going to do anything except die,” Heliena replied. “I’d rather be killing my sister right now, but unfortunately you’ll have to take her place. Seeing as how you let her sleep in your room last night, I wasn’t able to slit her throat like I did my aunt’s. Such a pity.”
“If you wanted her dead so badly,” Emily replied, “then why didn’t you just let her go with Lok’har, huh? Why did you suggest Belen go instead? Why?”
“Haha!” Heliena laughed. “You’re such a stupid little farmer! Honestly, it’s shocking you survived this long. It pains me to see you die so ignorant. Do I have to piece everything together for you? Belen needed to go before her innocence could be proven. It’s the same reason I didn’t kill you that night on Okamoto’s ship. I knew everyone would suspect me, so once I saw that you thought Belen might be the traitor, I knew what I had to do. I slipped some treant twigs into Belen’s pack the morning before we hunted the treant, and poof, you and everyone else leapt on it like a hungry manticore!”
Heliena laughed again, and Emily’s blood rushed. Her jaw hurt with the effort she put into clenching it.
“So why haven’t you killed me yet?” Emily said. “What do you want, traitor?”
“You see this?” Heliena pulled back her knife a hair to shake her wrist. “I’ve coated it with basilisk poison. I did the impossible yesterday while you were all drunk! That bow I made? I hollowed it out, and now it holds a basilisk with its eyes poked out. You’re going to be my test subject for its poison. I have to know the poison still works if the thing is dead.”
Emily looked at the knife, then back to Heliena.
“Not if I kill you first,” Emily said.
She jumped back, just barely fast enough to dodge Heliena’s lunge. Emily swung her fist to connect with Heliena’s jaw but hit only air as the beauty stepped aside. Heliena was quick to make a slice towards Emily’s chest. Emily dodged, dipping back so that the tip touched only the metal studs on her vest, sending out a faint ring deadened by the jungle leaves.
“I see my dear older sister has been teaching you a few things,” Heliena snarled, “but you’re still no match for me.”
“You’re right,” Emily said, “not unarmed. But I don’t have to be.”
Heliena screamed and snapped her arm forward, but Emily collapsed her knees and the speeding weapon missed her neck. As Emily ducked, she snatched up a handful of dirt and leaves in her off-hand and threw them into Heliena’s face.
Heliena turned her face to shield her eyes from the dirt, and Emily sprung at her, screaming as her hands went for the knife. She clenched the handle and leaned all her weight forward to drive the point into Heliena’s stomach. She would kill this woman with her own blade, just as Belen had tried to do.
To Emily’s shock, Heliena didn’t fight the push but sidestepped again, letting the blade pass her by as she brought her knee up and smashed it into Emily’s stomach. The air was forced from Emily’s lungs, and before she could recover, Heliena slammed an elbow down on her neck. Emily’s hands came reluctantly free of the knife, and she crashed to the ground, tears pouring uncontrollably from her eyes.
As Emily hit the ground, she flipped over and kicked wildly, trying to fend off any attack that might come as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes with dirt-covered hands.
Then, she felt the slightest nick on her leg, and Emily stopped.
“Nice try,” Heliena laughed. “But now, you die.”
Emily finished wiping the tears and looked up to see Heliena had stepped back. The smallest of cuts adorned her shin, and it took a full second for the pain to hit. When it did, her leg seemed to burst into flames, and her muscles contracted so tight she thought her bones would break. Emily screamed, kicked, and grabbed her leg as if the pain could be torn out.
“Die, Emily, die!” Heliena laughed.
The pain traveled up her leg and into her gut, disintegrating her from the inside out. The fire traveled up and up, and Emily’s lungs stopped working and she couldn’t breathe. Her heart twisted and thrashed, her arms felt like they had exploded, and her throat was surely full of molten iron. Her eyes watered up, and then the world started to go black. She lost all sense of her surroundings, and she screamed and screamed.
Emily, came a voice in her head. Emily. . .
“Quartus,” Emily gurgled.
“The angels can’t save you now,” Heliena laughed. “Besides, he’ll be dead soon anyway. Goodbye, farmer!”
Heliena’s laughter faded away into nothing as Emily’s body continued to burn from the inside out.
“I’ll,” Emily choked out, “kill you. . .”
Emily, came the voice in her head.
Emily tried to speak again, but she couldn’t anymore. Her voice didn’t work. She had no air in her lungs to make sound, and they continued to burn. Then, slowly, the pain began to fade, along with her consciousness, until everything went black and the pain stopped altogether. Her whole world spun away until nothing remained at all.
Then, she opened her eyes and found she wasn’t in the jungle anymore.
Emily was in the angels’ throne room, in the massive tower of Lucifan. She was wearing her amazon clothes, carrying amazon weapons, and standing in the large, dome-shaped room with the red carpet and five stone thrones. Behind her, the grand doors leading into the room were wide open, and nothing but solid, white light poured in through them.
Sitting on one of the thrones was Quartus. He looked just as majestic as she remembered him—feathered wings swept back, eyes glowing, hair grey, feet bare, body cloaked in white linen, and demeanor calm. His beauty was a thing to behold, and he was looking right at her with those shining eyes. Emily could only blink back in total disbelief.
“Hello, Emily,” he said. His voice thundered.
“Quartus?” Emily asked, shocked.
Where was she? How could this be? None of this was real. It couldn’t be.
“I’m dreaming?” Emily asked.
“Yes,” Quartus nodded. “Only I am real.”
“But how can that be?” Emily pressed on, still trying to grasp her surroundings. “You can’t speak. How can any of this be?”
“I cannot speak to mortals,” Quartus corrected, still unmoved from his stone throne. “I can only speak to those who are passing on into eternity.”
Eternity? Emily twisted her face in confusion. What was he talking about?
And in that moment, it clicked.
“You mean, I’m dead?” Emily asked.
“Dying,” Quartus corrected her again. “You will be dead soon.”
At first, Emily just stared at the grey-haired angel as if he were joking. Then she realized that it all made sense and looked down at the floor. She swallowed and shook her head, unable to fully grasp what all this meant. After weeks of coming to within moments of death countless times, all of Emily’s accomplishments would amount to nothing. It was all over now. Emily had failed.
“So this is the end, huh?” Emily asked. “If you’re here to tell me what I did wrong, I can assure you that I’ve already noticed. I should have picked up on Heliena the moment I was on the ship back in Lucifan. Okamoto didn’t kill her, because she was the traitor. That was recognition I saw on his face. And the dream you sent me. That was to tell me I was hunting the wrong person.”
Emily shook her head and started to pace towards Quartus. The angel stayed quiet, and Emily noticed that the overwhelming power she expected in an angel’s presence was absent.
“To think that I wanted to be like her,” Emily said in disgust. “Now Chara is dead, too, and it’s all my fault. How could I have been so ignorant?”
Emily bent low, drowning in her own guilt. Her knees seemed unable to bear the weight of shame that hung heavy in her soul, and so she collapsed onto them. Quartus watched, still unmoving, with a solemn expression of patience.
“Can you at least tell me what the warning was for?” Emily asked.
“My brother told you to watch your suspicions,” Quartus replied, looking defeated. “I knew you would be quick to blame the wrong person, so I hoped to warn you by heightening your focus. It turns out that I only served to distract you, and for that, you have my deepest apologies. Know that you are not the only person who will suffer from my error. This is truly my failure, Emily, not yours, and I have doomed thousands.”
Emily turned away when Quartus apologized to her. It seemed like such an awkward concept for an angel to apologize to a human, like a thunderbird bowing out of the way for a gnome.
“I have another question,” Emily said, eyes averted. “Why me? And what happens now?”
“That’s two questions,” Quartus acknowledged. “The first of which, I will not answer. The second, though, is easy enough. I’m sure you already know.”
“Heliena will make it back to Lucifan,” Emily nodded. “She’ll give the basilisk to Count Drowin, and he’ll begin his reign of terror with the ability to kill immortals. All because of me.”
Emily frowned and looked down. It hurt to admit her failure, but it hurt more to know of all the damage her failure had and would cause. Quartus may have accepted the blame, but she carried it, too.
“I miss my grandmother,” Emily whispered and started to choke back tears.
Quartus rose from his stone throne and glided down on his magnificent wings, landing to put a finger to Emily’s chin and raise her head up. Emily looked into Quartus’ eyes and saw sympathy in its purest form. She gathered herself back up and wiped the tears away.
“There,” Quartus said, as he straightened, towering over her. “Don’t cry yet. I have a question for you now.”
Emily blinked, surprised. She wiped her eyes again and looked up at Quartus.
“If you were to survive this,” he started, “what would you do with your new life?”
Emily blinked again, even more stunned than before when she realized what Quartus was offering her. He could bring her back to life! He could stop her from dying.
The chance to right all her wrongs brought about every emotion she had. She tried desperately to think of what Quartus wanted to hear. He was an angel, so that meant he wanted to help people. Yes, Emily thought, that’s it. Maybe he wanted her to give her life up to charity, to give everything she had to the poor and volunteer to assist others. Emily could promise that. She would promise just about anything to get a shot at a second life.
But could she lie to Quartus? Could she lie to an angel? She couldn’t, she realized. Emily wouldn’t be able to live with her new life if she received it through dishonesty. Emily knew then that she’d have to tell the truth.
What would she do with her new life?
Would she live with the amazons? They were nice enough and a lot of fun. Adelpha was a great friend and would continue to be so. However, Emily realized she didn’t want to stay in Themiscyra, not without Chara.
Chara, Emily thought as fresh tears filled her eyes. I’ll get you for this, Heliena. I swear I will kill you for this.
And in that moment, Emily knew what she’d do with her new life.
“I’d hunt down Heliena,” Emily said, head down. “I’d kill her for taking away my grandmother.”
Emily bit back tears as she said those words, knowing that she had failed again. Never, never in the entire world, Emily thought, would an angel approve of a life of vengeance.
“That’s what I thought,” Quartus sighed.
Emily squeezed her eyes shut as shame struck her anew.
“Now,” he said and pointed to the white light behind Emily. “Go.”
Quartus dropped his hand and returned to his throne. He walked rather than flew this time, tilting his head down as if he couldn’t bear the weight of the decision he was making. Emily was unable to look at the angel who had given her so much in exchange for nothing.
Emily looked instead to the white light that poured out from the open door. With a sigh and a shudder, she stood up and walked towards it, fighting back the hot tears that dripped down from her face. Goodbye, everyone, she thought to no one in particular. Especially you, Chara. Especially you.
Emily paused just before the streaming white light. She took a deep breath and shut her eyes. Slowly, she placed a hand into the light and then stepped through completely.
The bright void enveloped her body, and the world went white before going dark again. Everything went silent. For a brief moment, Emily heard herself breathing. A moment later, even that sound perished, and Emily lost all sense of everything around her. In a heartbeat, Emily’s consciousness faded away.
And then she opened her eyes.
“Emily,” Adelpha said. “Can you hear me?”
Chapter 22
Emily’s eyes fluttered open and then shut. In the brief flash, she saw dim light and shadows, but her eyelids were too heavy to lift again. Her ears, though, worked well.
“Emily,” Adelpha said again. “Emily, are you awake?”
It took every ounce of strength she possessed to lift her eyelids again, and when she did, she peered into the astounded and hopeful face of Adelpha, framed by the gentle fall of her straight, black hair. Emily realized she was lying on a cot in Chara’s hut, or at least one that looked just like it.
Emily winced and squinted at Adelpha before taking in a deep breath. As the air filled her lungs, Emily came to the stunning realization that, by all accounts, she was in the world of the living.
I’m alive? she questioned. I’m alive!
She tried to sit up, but instantly regretted it. Every bone in her body creaked, and every muscle stiffened to resist the movement. Adelpha put a hand to Emily’s chest to keep her down. The amazon princess had always been strong, but she seemed remarkably stronger in this moment.
“Easy there,” Adelpha warned. “You’ve been out for a long time.”
“How long,” Emily croaked and then coughed. Her throat felt like it was caked with dirt.
“Couple weeks, at least,” Adelpha said. “But by Themiscyra, Emily. You’re alive!”
Emily cracked a smile and was relieved to find that she could at least manage that. She tried to flex various body parts, though it took an effort to do so, and was relieved to find that she was missing nothing. Everything could still move.
“I can’t believe you’re alive,” Adelpha said. “It’s a miracle.”
Emily cleared her throat before she spoke this time. “What happened? Where’s Heliena?”
“My sister is long gone by now,” Adelpha seethed. “That morning before you and Chara left, she killed Stefani and then went into the jungle to wait for you. The guard thought she was just joining the hunt, so there was no reason to stop her. Most were passed out from the night before, and any others were preparing to hunt, so we didn’t find Stefani’s body until later. Some people thought you did it, and we went looking for you.”
“Heh,” Emily smiled again, “I’m glad they did. Who knows what would have happened to me out there.”
“Well, we found you,” Adelpha said. “The arrow in Chara’s heart, the knife cut on you, the small footprints leading away, and the fact that Heliena was gone and never returned filled in the gaps. When we saw the mark on your leg, we knew it was basilisk poison, and I thought you were dead for sure. You were still breathing, though, and you’re still breathing now. How is that possible?”
Adelpha asked this last part in sheer wonderment. Emily blinked a few times.
“What mark on my leg?” Emily asked.
Adelpha gestured for Emily to look for herself. Emily peeled back the sheets, not sure what to expect. It was painful to do so, and her muscles fought back. Emily sighed in relief when she saw the dark streak across her leg where Heliena’s knife had cut. The skin had scarred over pitch black and looked like a mound of dead flesh. Emily touched it, and to her shock, the streak was cold as a corpse. Otherwise, though, Emily was okay and glad
for it. She’d feared worse.
“So,” Adelpha pressed on. “What happened?”
“Heliena was the traitor,” Emily said.
“Yes, we gathered that,” Adelpha sighed and shook her head. “My own sister. The saddest part about that is, when it became clear, I was the least surprised.”
“Well, don’t feel bad,” Emily continued. “She wanted to kill you along with Stefani. The only reason she couldn’t is because you were fast asleep in our room that night. That bow she was working on wasn’t a bow at all. She hollowed it out to put a basilisk in it.”
“So how did you survive the poison?” Adelpha asked again.
Emily leaned up now, and Adelpha didn’t stop her. Emily took her time. It felt good to move again.
“You remember the angel, Quartus?” Emily asked. “He gave me another chance at life so I could stop Heliena.”
“That’s . . . amazing, and yet, disheartening,” Adelpha said and sighed. “You’ve only been in Themiscyra a little over a month, most of it unconscious, and yet you’ve already become a legend here. Everyone has been theorizing about how you survived, trying to put it together. We were hoping maybe you did something just before the attack, or perhaps smeared the mark with a salve that we could mimic. That way the rest of us could survive basilisk poison, too.”
Adelpha clenched a fist and let loose another sigh. Emily looked down and frowned before taking her own deep breath. Her lungs gave some resistance, showing that they hadn’t expanded like that in a while.
“I’m sorry,” Emily said. “It was divine intervention. It won’t happen again, I’m sure.”
“I wouldn’t believe you if I hadn’t already seen the impossible,” Adelpha said. “Still though, don’t be surprised when you leave this hut. If you thought people looked at you before, well, you can guess what’s going to happen now.”
“I don’t want any part of that. I just want to pack my things and leave as soon as I can. I’m going after Heliena.”
“You’ll have to get in line. I’m going after that banshee myself. She’s going to pay for what she did to Chara.”