by Laury Falter
First, however, I needed to release them.
My plan had been to find a safe place where Eran could recover but we were rising over the battle now and he had an alternate plan.
“The battle…” he said, referring to the conflict below us. “Get me down there.”
“Eran,” I said in warning.
“Magdalene.” His reply was calm. “I’m needed.”
Surveying the battle again, I knew what he said was true. While the Alterums were resisting our enemies, they were slowly being killed one by one.
“I’m not letting you go without a weapon,” I stated.
Then I felt a hand on my hip, which took me by surprise, and I released a gasp because of it.
Eran snickered. “Even fresh from death, I can still excite you. Nice to know…”
Holding in a laugh, I replied, “Good to see you’re back.”
Our humor faded as we reached the outskirts of the battle and it was gone completely by the time Eran rotated his head towards me, giving me a firm kiss. It was as wonderful as it could be considering that I was releasing him to a battle in which our enemies’ strength came in four against one now. Eran would be badly outnumbered.
The moment he landed, three Fallen Ones were on him and the sword he’d taken from my hip was flying through the air.
That very scene motivated me. While I could help in the return of those souls held captive in the death chambers below, those here, in this dimension, fighting so hard in battle would suffer immeasurable pain before reaching that dark place of death.
I soared back through the breach I’d made and down towards the Alterums. Only a small shaft of light gleamed through the ceiling, directly from the hole I’d created, which made me realize something midway down.
There was no rock surrounding us, no true tunnels or caves or caverns. This dimension was a fabrication. Nothing I saw was actually palpable. It only held its prisoners through the emotional destruction it leached in to their consciousness the feeling of helplessness, immobilizing, eternal confinement.
It was the reason I hadn’t heard, felt, or seen anything on my descent here.
The light straining in came from the other side, through the breach I’d created.
Glancing down at the number of Alterums below and back up at the breach, I knew something needed to be done.
We needed a bigger hole.
Pumping my wings harder and faster than I’d ever done before, I pummeled through the fabricated boundary that kept earth separate from the chambers of death below.
By the time I was done, light beamed through the cavern, warming it, illuminating it. And from high above, I saw a spectacle that took my breath away.
The bodies below, the hollow shells of Alterums, were stirring.
Soaring downward, closing the distance between us, I found their heads lifting, their wings shaking out and stretching. Then they began to stand and look around, helping those beside them to a standing position also.
Before I knew it, they were ascending, strong and powerful pumps of their wings lifting them off the ground and towards the light.
Hundreds of them, filtered upward, through the breach I’d created and back to the other dimension. I watched this sight, taken by such beauty in the depths of the darkest place in existence.
And then every last one of them was gone.
Knowing there were more, I made a search of the remaining tunnels, repeating this process where I found huddles of Alterums, avoiding those places where I found Fallen Ones, until I’d exhausted my search.
Then I returned to the other dimension, leaving as I found Alterums dying in the battle entering. I stayed just long enough to confirm my suspicions. Only when the Alterums landed on the cold, jagged rock below and sprang from the surface, towards the light, through the breach I’d created, and back to the other side did I leave.
The Alterums, messengers included, were now free.
Coming through to the other side, I didn’t hesitate, entering the fray and working my way inwards, killing off our enemies as I met them.
Doubt no longer weighed me down. I now knew who I was, what I was, and understood the power I held.
None of our enemies could hurt me. They never could. I was invincible, not only able to return from eternal death but capable of escorting those imprisoned there to freedom.
Abaddon had already lost his soul, and as I carved my way through the mass, meeting Eran in the middle, I realized something else.
Abaddon had also lost his war.
In the end, as the battle came to a close and the last of our enemies were being given their final rites at the end of messengers’ swords, Eran and I found ourselves surrounded.
From the billows of dust came the Alterums, the messengers, everyone of them familiar to me. Wiping dirt, sweat, tears, and blood from their faces, they made a circle around us, watching us for our next move.
Eran, knowing this, took my hand and lifted us off the ground. Rotating from above, we surveyed the thousands of Alterums who had become warriors, who had gathered, learned to fight, to defend themselves, and saved each other in the process. These were the victors, not us.
For them, he raised his free arm in the air, his fingers rolling in to a clenched fist as a sign of power and unity. And they responded. Raising their fists in the air in silence.
Then, from somewhere in the crowd, a shout echoed over their heads, followed by another and another, until our ears rang with their elation. Their energy they emitted was palpable, bringing goose bumps to my skin.
When Eran and I returned to the ground, we found ourselves surrounded by a single group of them in particular.
The messengers had gathered together and emerged. The very ones who had fallen at the hands of our enemies and had lived imprisoned in eternal death for centuries.
Two of them stepped forward, their faces so starkly familiar I froze in place. Their smiles, so welcoming, so endearing, I struggled to think straight.
These were the faces of my parents, the very same ones who had escorted me to earth on each occasion.
“Maggie,” said my mother, taking me in her arms. “We have a lot to catch up on.”
I shook against her with laughter. “I’d say so…”
As my father embraced me, he had a different message. “Thank you…from all of us.”
I knew what he meant. He was appreciative of me releasing them from the gloom they’d endured for so long. But I couldn’t take the credit.
“Thank the Alterums. Without them, none of us would be here.” And this was true. Because they had united, we had survived.
He nodded, a gleam of undeterred admiration still in his eyes.
Overhearing a sob, I turned to find Ezra and my mother embracing too, recalling they’d been friends long before I was born in to this lifetime.
But a quick glance around told me that the reunion wasn’t limited to them. Around us, friends were reuniting after being apart for hundreds of years, arms thrown over the shoulders of others, laughter echoing through the air.
“Well, its over,” Felix clapped Eran on the shoulder. “It’s finally over…”
“I prefer to think of it as just the beginning,” Ezra called from over my mother’s shoulder, breaking their conversation just long enough to, once again, counsel us to be positive.
That may have been the case for them but it was not for me.
I had one final trip to make.
My appendages flapped, lifting me skyward, but I moved across the ground with less urgency now.
This was an excursion for confirmation.
As I dropped through the hole I’d created and back down the chamber of death, I noticed it was empty now, and I smiled.
That smile, and the elation behind it, stayed in place until I passed through the tunnels and came across the chamber I was trying to find.
There, at the bottom of it, were thousands of Fallen Ones, all in the same hunched position, arms wrapped around their cu
rled legs, wings enclosing them against the pain they were enduring.
Descending towards them, I searched for two faces in particular, coming across them at the same time.
Abaddon and Elam were side by side, moaning in pain, though it was evident neither one knew the other was there. Each cowered in the same position as the rest, their heads tilted down, their expressions showing only dread.
I watched them, neither of them aware of my presence. And I understood without having to be told that they, and all the other Fallen Ones and Elsics in this cavern, in all other caverns in this desolate place, would never move from their spot. They would remain in place, cowering in fear…forever.
Now, the battle was over and my life could begin.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE: THE BEGINNING
New Orleans had never looked so beautiful.
As we flew in just before dawn, I couldn’t stop the lump that grew in my throat.
“Are you all right,” Eran called out next to me, sensing my swell of emotions.
I nodded, not trusting myself that I wouldn’t break in to tears if I spoke, struggling against them until we reached the back door to our house.
Inside, it actually felt like it was welcoming us. The rooms were as we’d left them, mine being the exception. Apparently, Ms. Barrett and her guards hadn’t bothered to put anything back in place when they went in search of the book of dossiers. But it really didn’t matter in the whole scheme of things.
My mother and father had followed us back and were given the spare bedroom next to Rufus. Felix made a quip about Rufus’s snoring rattling the walls which started a fight between the two. My parents took it in stride, proving they would fit in nicely here for as long as they chose to stay.
We’d left London a few days following the final battle, staying until the Alterums had dissolved their celebrations. And as they scattered back to the lives they’d left to join the fight, forever changed but retaining their wise confidence, the rest of us thought we should follow their lead.
A few days after our return, we all sat at the kitchen table in the small house we called home, Ms. Beedinwigg, Mr. Hamilton, and Alfred included. And we discussed what our future would hold, coming to the realization there were a few loose ends we needed to clear up and a day later I was headed back to the school where I was certain I was no longer accepted.
The Academy of the Immaculate Heart looked oddly the same. I wondered, with the Fallen Ones and Elsics gone and our lives free to be lived out as we wished, whether it might appear larger, or smaller. But no, the U-shaped brick building was still old; the ivy still draped over the face of it; and the grassy quad was still speckled with benches and shady, towering trees.
While the surface of it had remained unaltered, there was something new about the school.
It’s owner.
When Eran and I arrived, we did as we always had, on my beloved, rumbling Harley Davidson motorcycle. Directly behind us rolled in Ms. Beedinwigg’s Knight XV SUV. We parked next to each other and met at the head of the quad.
“Ready?” Ms. Beedinwigg asked, directing her question at the only person who really mattered in this case, Mr. Hamilton.
It wasn’t imperative that Eran and I were here for what was about to go down, but we sure wanted to be.
School was already in session and from the looks of the parking lot, there were no absences. None but us. Of course, we probably were no longer considered truant. Eran and I were likely marked with “Suspended” on our records while Ms. Beedinwigg had been unceremoniously terminated, considering we hadn’t set foot here in several weeks and we’d left without so much as a note.
Still, we marched through the doors and entered the main hall, each with our own confident stride.
I’d never seen Mr. Hamilton on school grounds before but he was leading the way and doing a fine job. Clearly, he’d researched his latest investment and memorized the layout of the building because he knew the route to Mr. Warden’s office. In fact, he didn’t even pause in front of our principal’s office door before heading in.
The office was quiet so we caused a bit of a stir coming through unannounced.
Ms. Saggy Arms, or Mr. Warden’s secretary, stood immediately, a frown already on her stiff face before we’d even entered. It remained there when she spoke to us.
“Do you have an appointment?” she demanded.
“No,” replied Mr. Hamilton flatly, without bothering to address her with his attention. He was already heading around her desk, towards the warden’s door.
Touché for Mr. Hamilton.
She tried to stop him, block his path, but she was too slow and Mr. Hamilton was already at the door before she could get her legs freely around her chair.
Glaring, she watched the rest of us march by her as well. ‘
“Mr. Warden…Mr. Warden!” she yelled in warning.
He was standing by the time Mr. Hamilton entered.
“What is the meaning of this?” he barked. Then he caught sight of me and snarled, “Why am I not surprised?”
Without missing a beat, he then saw Ms. Beedinwigg and launched in to a tirade. “You have no right to be here. None of you do. You, Ms. Beedinwigg, have been fired.” He smiled maliciously when making this announcement and then continued on, sneering when using our names. “And you two, Eran and Maggie, are no longer students at this school. And you, sir, are trespassing.”
He reached down and picked up his cell phone.
“I’m calling security. They’ll be escorting you off the premises shortly.” As he declared this with unwavering confidence, Mr. Hamilton withdrew an envelope from inside his jacket.
“Before you make that phone call, you’ll want to see this…” suggested Mr. Hamilton. He wasn’t snide about it, coy, or snobbish. It was a matter-of-fact statement, one that must have broken through the warden’s self-absorbed importance because he took the envelope from Mr. Hamilton with a yank.
Opening the envelope, he pulled out the documents inside…and then we waited.
The office was so silent a fly buzzing in the corner sounded like a freight train.
The Warden’s face twitched as his eyes scanned the first page. It fell entirely on the third.
“What…You can’t…” he stuttered. “No…”
“Yes,” stated Mr. Hamilton. “I now own this school and I’ll be making a few changes today. The first is starting with you.”
By this point, we could hear that someone had answered on the other end. But, unbeknownst to Mr. Warden, the school’s security company which he was now calling had already been introduced to its new owner.
In fact, they were waiting for his call.
Still in shock, Mr. Warden didn’t fight Mr. Hamilton as the phone was taken from his hand.
Mr. Hamilton placed it to his ear and said, “Roy, you may come in now. Mr. Warden is prepared to be escorted from school grounds.”
At that, the warden’s jaw fell.
Ms. Saggy Arms was standing in the doorway, listening, but she made her presence known with a gasp.
Mr. Hamilton turned to her. “You’ll want to collect your personal items, too.”
The overbearing woman of a minute ago had swiftly turned frail, drained of her venom. Still, she managed to return to her desk and begin shuffling through her drawers.
“But…she’s fired…” muttered the warden, pointing at Ms. Beedinwigg. “And…and those two are expelled.”
“Not anymore,” replied Mr. Hamilton coolly. “Maggie and Eran will resume classes without a mark on their records and Ms. Beedinwigg…well, Ms. Beedinwigg? Would you like to try out the warden’s chair?”
The warden didn’t miss a beat, sucking in a harsh breath at the very hint that Ms. Beedinwigg would be commandeering his position. He exhaled it only after she replied, confirming the new arrangement.
“I believe I’ll wait for the new office furniture to arrive.”
With that, the warden literally caved in. His shoulders hunched
forward, nearly coming together. His head dipped down so that his chin rested on chest. There was no resistance whatsoever when Roy and his men came to escort the warden away.
Eran, who had been quietly watching all this from the back of the room, stepped forward to shake Mr. Hamilton’s hand.
With unquestionable sincerity, his English accent delivered the words the rest of us would soon follow with.
“Thank you.”
“You are welcome. But expect no easy path. I know Ms. Beedinwigg to be a hard teacher.”
I scoffed. That was the pinnacle of all understatements.
Ms. Beedinwigg followed with a reassurance to that statement. “Rest up. When you start again on Monday, two days from now, you won’t have much free time. Take advantage of it now.”
“Two days…” I murmured. “What will we do with them?”
Eran looked down at me and with his glorious signature smirk said, “I have a few ideas in mind…”
He refused to tell me, insisting that I be patient, which for me was equivalent to telling water not to move. I did learn of it but first I had to endure Felix’s celebration dinner of salamander steak frites, pickled fruit tart, and blackened seaweed fresh from the Gulf as well as separate sleeping arrangements – making it clear that Ezra was back to her antagonizing maternal role. Of course, I vowed to test those limits she set but first I’d give her a break. She deserved it.
To Eran’s credit, he came up with another solution, a less antagonistic one. I just wasn’t aware of it until the next morning…
EPILOGUE
Before I even opened my eyes, I knew something was different. First, I heard an owl hooting and there were none of those in New Orleans proper. Second, the bed sheets enveloping me were made of silk. I didn’t own silk, at all. Third, a warm, muscular body was lying next to me, covering every inch of my back and legs.
“Good morning, Mrs. Talor,” Eran charming accent whispered in my ear, tickling my skin with his soft breath.
I groaned and purposefully stretched so that I could more fluidly roll towards him. The silk drifted across my skin with the delicate touch of a cloud.