by Laury Falter
“Well…it isn’t over yet,” she replied and then nudged me out the door. “Get going…”
I followed Gershom with Eran directly behind me and the rest of our entourage behind him. We lined up single file down the hallway, keeping our footsteps light to prevent them from echoing.
We took several hallways and two flights of stairs before we were back on ground level. Our group had just reached the door to the courtyard, to freedom, when I halted.
“No…” I whispered, furious.
Eran was frozen by that point, tense and alert. While his eyes were on me, I knew he was listening for the same telling sounds, the same confirmation as me.
“What?” Ezra whispered from further down the hallway.
Already my hand was on the back of my neck…where I felt the unmistakable sign of Fallen Ones advancing.
“They’re coming…” I said, “and they’re coming fast.”
CHAPTER EIGHT: INVASION
Fallen Ones typically attack alone with stealth invisibility or in small, inconspicuous hordes. At times, when the need has called, they congregate and send progressively larger flanks into battle on intervals. This assures them the advantage of terror as their victims witness an ever growing army while giving them an understanding of how their victims fight and the tactics they use to defend themselves.
There was no need for either of these strategies to be employed for the Alterums.
Alterums had no tactics.
Most of them had never learned defense, having come to earth with the innocent belief they would be safe from harm given the advantage of their supernatural ability.
They had never considered the possibility of an invasion by Fallen Ones. This couldn’t have been clearer when Eran opened the door to the courtyard as the first wave hit.
The Fallen Ones came in silent just as dusk had arrived and it appeared they had discarded their previous tactics in favor of an all out bombardment. Their winged bodies blacked out the sky almost entirely as only the whistling sound of air moving across their wings and succeeding grunts from their victims filled the air.
The guards positioned as sentry were tossed aside like fabric dolls as Fallen Ones landed on the turrets and climbed over the useless stone walls, using their grey wings for flight as well as leverage when shoving aside the fortress’s defenders.
“The armory,” Eran urged as he closed the door and turned from it. Just as he did, its metal lock fell in to place; as I was certain he did with the rest of the fortress’s exterior doors. The look he gave me confirmed what I thought. The frail wood doors would do little to obstruct the Fallen Ones but may buy us some time. We needed to get to the armory quickly.
Evelyn, who had followed behind us, whispered hastily, “Come with me.”
It probably would have been difficult to find if it weren’t for the rest of the Alterums heading there too. Rounding the last corner, we found a throng of them desperate, shoving, terrified as each tried to enter the one room weapon storage. Some had sprouted wings and were hovering haphazardly above the crowd, attempting to enter the door from above to no avail.
Ms. Barrett was shoving her way through the crowd from the opposite side when she caught sight of us. Her jaw fell open in offense at seeing us free and she began pointing in our direction, shouting madly. If I read her lips correctly, she was screaming, “Remain calm! Remain calm! They came for Maggie!” The incensed crowd, however, drowned her meager voice and we turned our attention back to the matter at hand.
“This won’t do,” Ezra called out over the pandemonium.
“If they find us here,” Campion yelled, “we’ll have rounded ourselves up nicely for them.”
Eran nodded sternly, surveying the situation.
Evelyn strode through our cluster, gesturing for us to follow her.
She led us through a number of passageways, the crowd’s noise growing fainter from behind with each turn, until she shoved open a door to reveal a small but tightly organized room on the other side.
“Ms. Barrett’s office,” she announced, entering. “I think it’ll take her a while to get here considering she was on the other side of the mob.”
Rufus snorted. “I’m thinkin’ she’s the least of our problems.”
“Indeed,” Evelyn said as she and Ms. Beedinwigg stepped up simultaneously to an armoire.
“Eran?” Ms. Beedinwigg called for his attention, which had been directed down the hallway.
Without a word from him, the armoire’s lock turned, initiating a unified ‘thank you’ from Evelyn and Ms. Beedinwigg.
When the door opened, it revealed what we all hoped. Apparently, Ms. Barrett had an appreciation for weapons. Her cache inside the armoire included artillery from all areas of the world.
Ms. Beedinwigg immediately commandeered the sai while I took hold of two swords, giving one to Eran. By the time each of us had made our selection, the armoire was empty.
“What’s the plan?” asked Felix, clearly hopeful that there was one.
We stared from one to the other and then Eran, who had continued to keep watch at the doorway, showed his ability to plan an offensive strategy in the most dire of situations. “The Fallen Ones will want to maintain a perimeter while the remaining forces raid the fortress, looking for Maggie. I will take the perimeter, quietly eliminating their guards. The rest of you will follow Campion and wait…”
“Wait?” Evelyn demanded, stepping forward in disagreement.
“…wait until the Fallen Ones have surrounded the Alterums at the armory and are focused on seeking Maggie in the crowd. Then you’ll surround the Fallen Ones and incite the Alterums to fight back from inside the huddle.”
Understanding now, Evelyn nodded. “And suffocate the Fallen Ones until they have nowhere to fight or to run.”
“Correct,” Eran replied firmly. “Are we ready?”
Without uttering a word, each of us headed for the door, our weapons out and readied for battle.
I was the first in line and mentally preparing myself for the worst when Eran halted me. “Where do you think you’re going?”
I glanced at him. “To fight.”
He appeared momentarily stunned before his expression transformed to firm opposition. “You’re staying right here.” When I opened my mouth to argue, he didn’t give me the chance. “It’s too dangerous out there for you.”
My mouth fell open, amazed he would propose it. “It’s dangerous anywhere right now and if you think I’m going to hide while others die during a fight that I caused-”
“I’m not asking, Magdalene.”
The rest of the room was silently watching now, which irritated me. They should have been down the hall already.
“They have come here because of me, Eran.”
“You are not responsible for this,” he countered.
We were at a standoff, neither of us willing to bend to the others request.
Rufus growled in frustration then and stepped forward. “I’ll keep ‘er safe.”
I turned towards him, openly offended, which Rufus ignored.
“Thank you,” said Eran with a firm nod before disappearing through the door.
By the time the room had emptied, I was clenching and unclenching my fists, my jaw clamped shut and grinding.
“Ah…calm down,” Rufus muttered.
I exhaled loudly, never having been more slighted. “You are my friend, Rufus.”
“Aye, that I am. Now…if ya so much as leave me side, I’ll kill ya meself.”
“Excuse me?” I said, perplexed as to what he was insinuating.
“’Scuse yerself. I mean it, Mags. Ya need ta stay close ta me.”
I still didn’t know what Rufus was implying but I nodded agreement nonetheless.
When we left the room, I was exhilarated and confused, having no idea where Rufus was headed until we reached a staircase to the lookout lofts.
“Don’t know what yer boyfriend’s thinkin’,” Rufus mumbled, disgruntled, “bu
t he ain’t goin’ ta last long without someone watchin’ his back.”
I didn’t bother holding back the smile that surfaced. It might very well be the last one I have. It faded soon enough, anyways, once we opened the door.
Outside, Fallen Ones circled a few stories above the fortress. Along the lookout, additional Fallen Ones commanded the walls, watching for anyone who might attempt to breach the perimeter. I didn’t bother to count them but they far outnumbered us. It was discouraging until someone slid over the stone wall, grabbing one on the lookout platforms and pulling him over the edge.
Eran, I thought to myself. You’re about to get some assistance, whether you want it or not.
Rufus and I slipped along the wall of the lookout, intentionally staying in the shadows, until we reached the first Fallen One.
He was just over Rufus’s height with the same brawny physique. His wings were out but not extended, telling me that he was comfortably self-assured in his new surroundings.
We were going to challenge that…
Carefully waiting until no other Fallen Ones were looking in our direction Rufus then reached out and pulled the one we’d pinpointed back to the shadow.
My weapon, already drawn, slid across its throat, decapitating it.
Even severed, its mouth opened, preparing to warn the other, but Rufus caught him first. His hand clamped over the Fallen Ones mouth, suffocating it until it passed out. He then handed the head to me.
“Finish ‘im off,” Rufus whispered.
Knowing I was the only one who could ensure a Fallen Ones ultimate death, I placed my hand over its cold, thick lips until we were certain it wouldn’t revive again. We then moved on to the next.
Eliminating them was not easy. As was the case with all Fallen Ones, they were vulnerable each in their own way. Rufus and I had to discover what every one’s vulnerabilities were and most importantly we needed to do it quietly.
Whether by luck or skill, the remaining Fallen Ones were oblivious to our actions, quietly circling from their posts above. The only one who did notice was Eran.
I looked up just in time to see him pull another one of our enemies over the wall and our eyes met. His grew wide and his jaw jutted out but he continued with his task at hand until it was done. Then, he found a way into the shadows that hid Rufus and me. By that point, we had eliminated every Fallen One on the lookouts.
When Eran emerged from a window next to me, his eyes said everything going through his mind, and it was not pleasant.
Rufus handed me another limp body and I quickly did my job to send him to a permanent death. Being the final one, Rufus motioned to us, asking if we were ready for the next onslaught.
I nodded in agreement but, even with my head turned away, I was convinced that Eran refused. Instead of getting the attentions of the Fallen Ones above, he and Eran launched in to an unspoken argument using rapid and sharp hand gestures.
The disagreement turned out to be futile. They had forgotten one pertinent element. The Fallen Ones felt me just as easily as I felt them, their radar being the same intense electrical volts I experienced.
Although I couldn’t be certain, I believe that as I grew more agitated while waiting for the two of them to finish their silent debate, the Fallen One closest to me suddenly picked up on the swell of emotion that began coursing through me.
She swiveled her head from right to left and quickly back to the right again. Not seeing anything of consequence, she looked down and then up.
Then she knew right where to find me.
Almost leisurely, she spun around in midair, a deep and widening grin stretched her flawless skin. In her eyes wasn’t the excitability I’d seen in other Fallen Ones at the prospect of claiming the life of their kind’s archenemy. She had the eyes of an immoral warrior who had suddenly picked up the scent of blood. Her goal wasn’t fame.
Taking my life would be its own reward.
Without waiting, and midstream between another one of Eran’s refusals, I launched myself from the lookout and collided with the woman.
This set off a chain of events so rapid I didn’t catch all that happened. Eran and Rufus set out in opposite directions, tackling the first enemy closest to them. Within seconds, the remaining Fallen Ones surrounded me but were slowly picked away, one by one, by both of my protectors. All this took place as I did my best to get the upper hand with the woman I had engaged.
What seemed like minutes passing were likely hurried seconds and before I knew it, the woman’s limp body was falling to the ground below and Eran and Rufus were hovering on opposite sides of me.
The sky was clear now. The fortress had been freed…from the outside.
Eran rotated to face me. His fury was ebbing away, I saw, as he moved to take my face in his hands.
His breaths were coming in short gasps as he brought his forehead to rest against mine. One shuttering exhale told me everything he felt…terrified of my involvement in the battle and gratified we’d survived it.
“I suppose,” he said, his breath brushing my face, drawing me closer, “asking you to stand back from the battle inside would be out of the question.”
I pulled back slightly. “To the armory.”
As if he already knew my answer, he nodded quickly after. “Stay close to me,” he stated and then led us over the edge of the wall and through a window below.
Inside, the stench of battle filled the air, seemingly inflamed by grunts echoing off the walls. The lanterns, some downed along the way, lit the passages until we reached the center of the conflict.
There, bodies littered the floor, most still moving, shuddering. Only a few Fallen Ones remained uninjured and they were now being dealt with by the massive number of Alterums still alive.
After seeking the crowd for our housemates, Gershom, Ms. Beeginwigg, Mr. Hamilton, Alfred, and Magnus to confirm they were alive and healthy, I turned to Eran.
“Watch over me as I get to work?”
“Always,” he affirmed.
I then went about purging the Fallen Ones from their bodies and to eternal death. With a dedicated focus, Eran and I worked our way efficient through the injured, picking our enemies from the piles, until the last one was eliminated.
In the end, over a hundred bodies scattered the ground, half of them Alterums.
Noting this, my reaction was slight but I felt it. My lip quivered, something that took me by surprise. My emotions had always been locked down, shuttered from others, and certainly never exposed in a room full of strangers. But, there I stood, holding back the onslaught of tears threatening to stream down my face. Alterums, ones I never met before, had suffered a great punishment, one that was meant for me.
It felt as if my chest was crushing in, the air squeezing out of me when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Eran.
Only then did I look up and what I saw was bittersweet.
Alterums lined the walls, covered in blood, a mixture of their own and the enemies they’d maimed. They had been silent, watching Eran and me work meticulously and exact until I finally lifted my head.
Their expressions, however, weren’t filled with hatred or blame for having been responsible for the loss of their friends. To my astonishment, they reflected admiration.
It stilled the breath in my chest.
This should have been enough to tell their thoughts but then they spoke in motion, conjuring in me a tumultuous swirl of feelings so intense I continued to struggle for breath. Starting with just one, we were approached and hands were placed on us in thanks. Progressively, every Alterum in the passageways touched our arms gently in silent gratitude, their faces quivering in reaction to what they’d just gone through, tears leaving clean tracks down their faces.
The great ones, those who had witnessed countless lives in this dimension, who held powers far more potent than me, who were respected by just as many souls here as in the afterlife, joined the procession. They placed their hand on me with a firm purpose, one that told me to take comfor
t. They didn’t hold me responsible.
There was no sound, other than the scuff of feet along the ground as they shuffled forward, but there was a sentiment and it was powerful. It flowed through us like a hot, fluid stream, uniting us, making us whole.
Even those more potent in their unique abilities than Eran or myself.
Later, I reflected on this quiet but potent expression of thanks by the Alterums and knew it was the most humbling experience of my existence. At the time, however, my thoughts centered around one realization…
The calamitous event Evelyn had forewarned would be needed to rally the Alterums had just taken place.
CHAPTER NINE: BARGAIN
Over the next few days, the fortress was repaired, the bodies were removed, and new sentries were positioned at the lookouts. A routine, a normalcy began again, one that Eran and I and my other prison mates were now allowed to participate in.
Only a few Alterums, it appeared, adamantly refused to comply with the rest. Ms. Barrett and her guards were suspiciously absent over these first few days.
As I freely roamed the passageways, it was hard not to notice the surreal dichotomies within the fortress walls. The ancient kitchen was equipped with state-of-the-art cooking equipment; meeting rooms were lined with antique canvases alongside plasma screen TV sets; and a heating and air conditioning system had been retrofitted inside the primeval stone walls.
Eran and I had been given the largest bedroom, or chamber to use a term more familiar to the century in which the fortress was built. We spent every night there, my head on his taut chest and my arm strung across his torso. He fell asleep each evening with his hand laid gently on my head, as if an inch apart would be too painful for him.
We overlooked Ezra’s disapproving eye while knowing it was ever present each night we disappeared upstairs and every morning we reappeared downstairs.
I wasn’t sure if it was Ezra’s reaction to our sleeping arrangements or something else but Eran had not made a single attempt to go any further than holding my head to him. Still, I noticed the reaction in him each time I sat down on the edge of the bed and slipped beneath the covers. Each night, he drew in a sharp breath and then his body would stiffen, almost board-like, until morning came. I didn’t tempt him, although the idea of it nagged me throughout the night, but I didn’t hold back either. On more than one occasion, I nuzzled my lips to his neck and kissed lightly and then increasing passionately until I heard him muttered tightly, “Magdalene…” Then I would begrudgingly acquiesce and lay my head back against his shoulder.