Angeldust

by Peach, Hanna

  “What are you doing? Elder, let me out,” Bezebel’s voice betrayed her fear.

  “You wanted a demonstration. I’m giving you one.”

  “Elder, Michael, please−”

  Michael slammed the glass door to the pod shut on Bezebel and her begging was shut out too. He floated unhurriedly down to the base of the trunk. He pressed something and the base swiveled, revealing a throne-like chair in the center of the trunk. Michael turned and sat in the chair as if it were an actual throne, then pressed and played with a control panel. The tree started to hum, a deep humming noise coming out from within and a black pulse grew from the trunk and up towards the pod. Immediately the air began to crackle with static. The hairs on Symon’s arm started to rise. It was magic. The black pulse was magic, but what the hell was the magic doing to Bezebel? What was this machine?

  Symon watched in helpless horror as Bezebel’s palms smacked against the glass of the pod while the black magic seeped into the pod, filling it like a noxious gas. Her smacking became weaker and slowed until her palms slid off the glass and disappeared. The black gas began to suck back into the branch of the machine. The black pulsing river was carrying with it a white shimmering pulse. Symon recognized the white-colored magic. It was AirWhisperer. Bezebel was an AirWhisperer.

  Now the hairs on Symon’s neck rose further, not from the static but from fear. Michael laughed as the electricity flowed down the branch and into him until it finally stopped. Michael stood up from his chair, brushing his fingers together. His fingertips crackled with a white electricity. “Powerful, aren’t you, Bezebel? Dare say you’ve been training your magic in secret? Time to test your powers out.”

  Michael sent his palms out towards the air, and a huge wave went out. It pulsed around Symon, feeling him, before he could move. Oh crap. The AirWhisperer sucked back towards Michael, carrying with it his presence.

  “Seems like we have someone here who shouldn’t be,” Elder Michael’s voice boomed out. “Come out, come out, whoever you are.”

  Symon turned and flew back up the corridor, not even looking around to see whether he was recognized. He crashed and ricocheted off the walls as he flew through the darkness, his haste making him sloppy.

  “Come out, come out, whoever you are,” echoed up the tunnel, spurring him on faster. There, the exit. He was almost there. If he could just get out of this tunnel, maybe he would escape unseen. He stuck his wrist out, hoping that the shield would retract fast enough that he wouldn’t crash into it head first. Almost there. Almost−

  A huge movement of air rushed around his ankles like a giant hand, yanking him back. He kicked against it and urged himself forward, but it was useless. How do you kick off air?

  He was dragged back through the tunnel, the exit in front of him so close before, now fading and shrinking as was his hope. He was yanked out of the tunnel and into the bright dome space across the floor, his skin burning at the grazing contact along the ground. He stopped at the feet of Elder Michael. Symon gulped in air as he stared up at the Viking-like figure. Elder Michael’s large biceps bulged in his sleeveless tunic as he held his palms out towards him. There was an eerie glow to his eyes and a sheen of sweat coated his skin.

  “Well, well, well. Symon. And how did you find your way down here?”

  Symon pressed his lips together. He pushed himself up to his knees and tried to stand. Elder Michael flicked one of his fingers. Symon felt a giant force, like a huge heavy hand pushing down on him, flattening him to the ground.

  Michael’s eyes roamed over Symon and stopped at the bracelet on his wrist. He scowled. “Alyxandria. That annoying pest of a girl. She got to you, did she? I should have known.”

  Symon kept his mouth shut as his eyes glanced around the room searching desperately for something to use. His magic.

  Symon slid his arm out from under him and curled his fingers, pushing hard against the force that kept him on the ground. He opened his palm to Michael and sent out a pulse. Michael countered with his own DreamWalker magic. Their pulses met in the air with a lashing crackle. Blue sparks whizzed off into the air. For a second their pulses held steady against each other, but then Michael’s magic started to push back against his.

  “You fool,” Michael said. “Do you really think you could beat me in a duel?” Michael laughed and the menacing sound added to the crackle echoing through the dome.

  Symon wouldn’t give up. As he stared at the pulse moving closer to him, he gathered all his magical strength and directed it into his palm. One last ditch effort. He was able to push back for a few seconds before he felt his energy starting to fail. His body and his palm trembled with the effort.

  It was for nothing. Michael was too strong. Symon screamed as his magic collapsed. The wave of darkness rolled over him as Michael’s magic crashed through his consciousness.

  Just before everything went black, he heard Michael laughing. “What a genius idea. What poetry…. Use the ‘father’ against his ‘daughter’.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Alyx closed the door behind her and leaned against it, closing her eyes, now alone in one of the many bedrooms of Cleo’s mansion. She was supposed to rest.

  Rest.

  She didn’t want to sleep, but she was just so tired.

  It was the physical weariness of the last few months, one fight after another, which sank into her bones and gripped them like weighted chains. She wanted to collapse with the weight of all the responsibility that rested squarely on her.

  It was emotional weariness, the tearing of her heart between Jordan and Israel, and her guilt over it. And other guilt: accepting a deal with Balthazar that almost cost Israel his soul, lying to her friends to keep this secret. It was knowing that a second friend had betrayed her, that she had cared for someone who would seek to ruin her. Now their community had once again been destroyed and with it, it appeared so had all of their hope.

  It was losing one friend after another…Elysia, Mayrekk, Passar. She hadn’t had time to breathe, to mourn them; instead she was forced to keep going. There was no rest for her heart, which bled even now, begging with every sickly beat for a ceasing of this torment so it could start to heal. This world, it seemed, would not allow it.

  Now she had let Michael get hold of the last Amulet piece, a piece that Raphael had entrusted to her to keep safe, but she had failed. She had lost Israel. And she couldn’t find him.

  Her soul now felt like a ghost in her body, thin and transparent. There was no sleep deep enough that could color it. Not until Israel was back by her side. And that, right now, looked so very impossible.

  She was so tired but she needed to stay awake. Just to rest her body but to stay awake in case Israel was able to contact her. She barely noticed her surroundings as she stumbled towards the bed.

  She laid down on the covers, not even taking off her boots. She would not close her eyes. Alyx forced her pupils to stare at the elaborate painting on the ceiling. She thought she saw within the painting an image of an angel flying across the sky. The colors swirled before her eyes. She was so tired, she was going cross-eyed.

  She just needed to close her eyes for one minute. Just one minute. She just needed a second’s respite from the pressure, otherwise her mind would burst with all these thoughts. Just one moment of peace…

  “Alyx,” Israel’s voice came to her through the dark. Her eyes flew open, her skin prickling at the sound of his voice caressing her skin as he said her name again. It couldn’t be real. It was her imagination. Surely.

  It was him. Israel. He was there, right in front of her, looking as alive and solid and well as she’d ever seen him. Her heart felt like it restarted again.

  “Israel,” she ran at him, throwing herself into his arms, almost toppling him over.

  He laughed softly in her ear. “Hey, babe. You’re excited to see me.”

  Babe? That was a new nickname for her. She pulled back to look at him close up. She brushed her fingers across his hair, his cheekbones
, the scar across his lip. His hazel eyes stared back at her, amused. “Looking for something?”

  Alyx shook her head slightly, as if she was trying to shake something loose from her mind. “How are you here? Why are you here?”

  “I’m here to see you, of course.” Israel pushed his nose into her cheek and breathed her in. She almost lost her train of thought when he brushed his lips across her mouth. She sucked in a breath. She could almost forget that…

  Alyx couldn’t shake this strange feeling. She leaned back so that her mouth was out of range of his. He pouted.

  “But, you’re lost,” she said, “I… I lost you. How…?”

  “You did lose me, didn’t you?” Israel’s fingers, splayed across her back, tensed and clawed into her as he gripped her closer. It wasn’t painful but the feeling wasn’t a tender one. It was passionate but underneath the passion was anger. His eyes became hard as stone as they narrowed. “You let him take me.”

  Alyx tried to push him away but his fingers clawed even harder into her body. “Israel, what are you doing?”

  “You lost me. You failed.”

  “Let go of me.”

  His eyes took on a strange menacing glare as his hands gripped her so hard that it pinched. She winced. “Kiss me, Alyxandria,” he growled as he pushed his mouth towards her. His voice was hard like stone. “Kiss me.”

  Alyxandria. He never calls me Alyxandria.

  “Israel, please.” Alyx tried to lodge an elbow in between them to push him away.

  “I just want you so badly.” One of his hands pushed under her shirt, his mouth sucking along her neck. The feeling of his tongue on her skin made her skin erupt in tingles. His fingers found the skin under her breast and the odd feeling intensified.

  She shoved his hand down. “Don’t.”

  He wasn’t deterred. His other hand slipped down her back and over her ass, pulling her even closer to him. He rubbed his hips against hers. “Come on, baby,” he crooned. “I want to be with you. Show me you love me, babe.”

  Wrong. This was all wrong.

  His hand went for her breast again. This time she shoved him away with every ounce of strength. He stumbled back, a look of pain on his face. Immediately she regretted it. Her hands went out towards him out of instinct. “Oh God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean−”

  His face screwed up and he pushed her, knocking her back against a wall. His hands ripped at her shirt; she heard the sound of tearing and felt cold air rushing around her stomach.

  “Israel, stop.” Alyx flung out an elbow between them again, but it clocked him right in the mouth. He let go of her and Alyx slid sideways along the wall to get some space from him. What was going on with him?

  His head snapped back to her, a manic look in his eyes. He put his hand to his mouth and it came away with blood. “You made me bleed, darling.”

  “Please stop it,” Alyx cried. “Israel, what’s wrong with you?”

  “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you?”

  Alyx unsheathed her dagger and held out the point to him. “Stay back.”

  “Or what? You’ll make me bleed again? Or is this some kind of sex game you want to play? I didn’t pick you for a kinky type.”

  “I’m not playing games.” For every step she edged back, he advanced. She glanced over her shoulder. Another wall was coming up and she was running out of room. “Stop right there. I don’t want to hurt you.” Her back hit the wall.

  “What if I want to be hurt?”

  He lunged at her. Alyx sidestepped and moved out into open space. He turned and kept advancing towards her. “Please, Israel. Don’t.”

  “Please, Israel,” he said in a mocking tone. He leapt at her again, his hand grabbing for the wrist that held her dagger. Alyx moved, leaping back, but the edge of her blade sliced against his palm. He hissed as he stared at his injured hand. When he looked up at her, his eyes looked like two dead orbs. “You’ll pay for that.”

  He roared as he ran at her. This time she didn’t have a chance to move out of his way. She raised her dagger out of instinct as his body knocked into her. She felt him tense and a sharp, tortured gasp heaved from his mouth. Oh God.

  His body fell heavy against her and she let go of the dagger handle as she tried to use both hands to hold him up. Her right hand was spotted with blood. She didn’t hear the clatter of the dagger falling. “No, please,” she whispered as she stared at his face. His eyes were wide and full of disbelief.

  “Y-You…” he started to say. His chin fell onto her shoulder and he was silent.

  Oh God. Oh God, no.

  Shock, disbelief, something, everything was gripping her body like icy hands. Alyx’s whole body started to shake. She lowered him onto the ground and his body fell heavy and useless like a sack. Heavy and useless. He fell back, the knife handle protruding from his chest, surrounded with red like a warning.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  She killed him. She killed Israel.

  A hand on her shoulder startled Alyx and she spun, holding her hands up in defense. A lump lodged in her throat when she saw his familiar face, his ruddy cheeks and soft brown eyes, staring back at her. “Mayrekk?”

  “Hello, Alyx.”

  There was a reason why he couldn’t be here. She struggled to remember why. Why couldn’t Mayrekk be here?

  It came to her. “But…you’re dead.”

  When Mayrekk answered his voice was cool but his eyes glinted hard like ice. “Thanks to you.”

  Alyx drew back, horror curling like fingers inside her. “W-What?”

  Mayrekk’s face softened and the hardness in his eyes slipped away as if it had never been there. She thought she might have imagined what Mayrekk had said to her.

  “I’m dreaming,” she realized. “I have to be dreaming.” Alyx traced her finger along Israel’s arm and tried not to look at his open, lifeless eyes. Yes, that’s it. She was dreaming. She would never kill Israel. Her heart released with relief.

  “I’m sorry, but this isn’t a dream, Alyx.”

  “What is it?”

  Mayrekk’s jaw set. “This is a premonition.”

  Alyx sucked in her breath. “No.”

  “Yes. But it doesn’t have to be this way.”

  “How…what should I do?”

  “Just accept what is meant to happen.”

  “What is meant to happen?”

  Mayrekk stared at her for a moment. “Let me show you some things. Take my hand.”

  Alyx hesitated for a moment. Why was she hesitating? This was Mayrekk. She loved Mayrekk, trusted him. She fought the uneasy feeling in her belly and took his hand. Israel faded into nothing and the world around them dissolved, the colors swirling around them as if caught in a storm. Alyx had to shut her eyes as pieces flew into them like gritty sand. She could feel that they were flying, Mayrekk pulling her along, the wind whipping through her hair and ruffling along her clothes.

  When she opened her eyes the air was thick with black smoke as they flew through it. Alyx could barely see, but Mayrekk seemed so certain about the way he was going. She trusted him, right?

  They broke through the smoke. Alyx felt her stomach drop at the sight below. The forest that stretched out burned with fire, leaving in its wake a black smoking scar and charcoal stumps where trees had been. Was this Raphael’s vision of the world’s predicted destruction?

  Mayrekk spoke. “We’re above one of the decreasing numbers of forests in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia.”

  “What’s happening?”

  “The mortals call it ‘slash and burn’. It’s the cheapest way for them to clear an entire forest.”

  Alyx stared at the charred crater that stretched out far, almost to the horizon. Her heart choked. “Why?”

  “They want this land for themselves. To make a profit out of it. This one is going to be a tobacco plantation. A tobacco plantation. These humans are killing this planet so they can kill themselves. They can’t stop themselves, so we must do it fo
r them.”

  “But they can learn. They can change.”

  Mayrekk snarled. “If they keep going at this rate, this country will run out of forest in the next three years. Three years, Alyx. We don’t have time to wait for them to change.”

  Alyx scrambled to think of a response. “But…think of Brazil. They managed to slow their deforestation down in the last few years.”

  “Slow. But not stop. What do you say about a species that, in the best case scenario, can only slow down their destruction of Earth?”

  The world underneath them swirled into a river of colors. It reassembled into a sea below. But it was a sea with something very, very wrong with it. A huge oil tanker had gone to ground and was spewing its belly up with black sticky oil. On the nearby shore the lifeless bodies of seals and birds were coated with it, slick like a death shroud. Those animals still alive were dirty with it. Alyx knew they would soon meet the same fate. The air retained a chill and Alyx found her breath coming out in a fog.

  “Will you be the one to say that the lives of these humans are worth more than the other species on this planet?” Mayrekk said. “Should they be allowed to live at the expense of other life?”

  “But there are innocents on this planet. Not every human is involved in burning trees or spilling oil. There are good people on this planet, innocents…children…”

  “Children.” Mayrekk said. “You think the children on this planet are innocent?”

  The ground dissolved again like sand caught in a wind and reassembled itself once more. The ground below was a rich red earth with patches of lush green grass and tall trees swaying in a breeze. Hot and humid air blasted up from the ground, blowing away the cold. The tall grass swayed as if a herd of tigers was stalking through it.

  “What are they?” Alyx asked.

  “Just watch.”

  The first animal broke through into the clearing. It wasn’t a tiger. It was a dark-skinned boy dressed in fatigues. In his arms, where he should have held a toy, was a large gun made of metal and bullets.