The Book of Elements

by Cynthia Woods

  He did not hear her murmur a final farewell.

  "Goodbye, my brother."

  Vin returned to his grassy knoll, not wanting to encroach on the couple he left in his home. Besides, he felt a little drained and wanted to take some time to rest. He again found it odd that he continued to think in such physical terms, but it was simply easier for Vin to stick with what he knew best. As he drifted, Vin thought he suddenly felt a strong presence hovering near, but the sensation did not last long.

  CHAPTER 33

  Caeli briefly felt Vin’s presence in the room with her. At first she was alarmed, thinking that perhaps the final round was already under way, and he was here to rescue her. She quickly realized that she was wrong. Vin was merely checking on her to make sure she was ok. Caeli could not deny that she was glad for the company, even if it was silent. Vin would not speak to her because he would have correctly assumed that they were watching her in anticipation of his arrival. He did not stay long, but she had no doubt that after his reconnaissance mission, Vin would return with every resource he needed to get the job done.

  Oh, Vin. I'm so sorry this happened to you, Caeli thought. Everyone I love dies. I thought you were going to break the cycle. But, you died because I loved you, too. Now, you can't even have any peace because of me.

  Frustration made Caeli ball her fist in the covers, trying to find a way out of this. The thought of Vin suffering any more was too much for her. After a while, she walked around the room and tried to open the door a few times, but could not budge it. She paced until her legs ached, and then returned to her former position on the bed. She repeated this pattern for most of the night.

  Caeli looked out the window on her most recent circuit to see the sun creeping up into an overcast sky. It would probably rain again today. It felt as if it had been forever since she felt the warmth of a sunny day without a dark cloud at her back; but the rain showers and furious storms of late comforted her and matched her mood. She was almost glad to see the brewing turbulence in the sky. It was much more appropriate for the coming event than the sun would have been.

  A metal sound rattled, and her cell door was opened to admit Nemi carrying a metal tray with what might be her last meal upon it. There was a warm bagel spread with butter, a bowl of oatmeal, and a large glass of water. She thanked him as he retreated to the hall and watched through the small square in the door as he carried two additional trays to rooms opposite each other at the end of the hall.

  Once Nemi was out of sight, Caeli gulped down the water, which helped restore some clarity to her sleep deprived mind. She picked up the bagel and nibbled at it as she watched Nemi go about his tasks in the various rooms. She noticed that he did not take a tray into the room where the sleeping patient lay in his bed.

  When Nemi returned to collect her tray and dishes, Caeli raised the tray to him and, at the same time, swooned as if she might faint. The tray's contents went scattering across the floor, but she managed to keep hold of the edge of the tray as she fell. Nemi reached to catch her and ease her into a chair which she'd conveniently placed by the door. Next, Nemi reached forward to retrieve the empty bowl on the floor. This was when she made her move. Caeli jumped up and swung the metal tray at the back of his head with all her strength. It dazed him long enough for her to dart out of the room and pull the door closed, sliding the bolt into place just as Nemi charged toward the wooden closure.

  Caeli ran down the hall to the room at the end where she saw the dark haired lady and her bundle deposited. The door stood slightly ajar, and she had no time to be bashful. Caeli felt certain that Nemi would soon find a way to win free. She pushed the door open wide and quickly scanned the room as she rushed inside. Caeli saw the book on the pedestal and knew this is what she needed to obtain. She lunged forward and reached for it. Her fingers brushed its edges when she was suddenly knocked from her feet as Nemi tackled her from behind. He wrapped his scraped and bleeding arms tightly around her, struggling to finally pin her arms to her side.

  Nemi was followed into the room by Antonius, who heard the commotion from his room across the hall. Dalla was roused from where she slept on a large sofa at the other end of the room. Antonius looked perturbed and, as Nemi pulled Caeli to her feet, he crossed the distance to stand before her. The deacon shook his head, turned to watch Dalla's approach, and then backhanded Caeli across the face, catching her completely off guard. The force of the blow knocked Caeli from her feet again as Nemi released her to let her receive the full force of the punishment.

  This only served to fuel Caeli's anger. She was done being drugged, slapped around, and made to feel defenseless. She certainly was not! She returned to her feet without assistance, determined not to let them see how much the new pain exacerbated her already aching body. Caeli glared up at the man in defiance. When his hand neared her face a second time, it met with resistance instead of flesh. Caeli blocked the strike with her own arm and grabbed hold of his wrist, twisting it sharply until she heard it snap. As Antonius reacted to extricate himself from her unexpected attack, Caeli landed a solid kick to his abdomen which forced a sharp exhalation of breath from his lungs. Nemi rapidly came to his master’s aid and dislodged Antonius' wrist from her grip. This time, Nemi mysteriously produced a length of rope and bound her hands behind her in his preferred fashion.

  Antonius was almost instantly recomposed and looked as if she did little more than whistle at him. Although, Caeli noticed that he did keep his injured right hand pressed tightly against his right side, stationary, as if splinted to prevent jostling the wrist and causing further pain. The deacon took a few slow steps to move closer to her and placed his good, left hand in the center of her chest. As Caeli saw his scornful grin, the deacon instructed Dalla, now standing in front of the podium, to place one of her hands on the book and the other on his shoulder. She complied, completing the chain. Pain exploded inside of Caeli's body, emanating from the point where his hand rested. The shock of it nearly stopped her heart. Her muscles spasmed as if an electrical current coursed through their fibrous tissues and her lungs contracted, preventing her from taking in air while the jolt continued.

  If her throat had been able to function properly, a scream of agony would have echoed down the hall while her body, held upright only by Nemi’s efforts, shook violently in response to the charge. Caeli cursed to herself as she endured the consequences of her failure. When she thought surely she would pass out from the pain, the deacon removed his hand, and the torment ceased. At least Caeli confirmed that he was not ready to kill her, not yet. That meant she still had a chance. Antonius still needed her alive until Vin showed up. Caeli would keep trying up until the point that the final battle came to fruition. If she could get away before then, and Caeli intended to try, there may yet be hope.

  The dark haired lady, who collapsed after the stream of energy ceased to flow, recovered enough to sit up in front of the pedestal, but could not yet stand. The power of the book being channeled through her clearly took a hefty toll on Dalla. Caeli estimated that the small amount of energy that had been used against her would not compare to the vast quantity likely to be used against something as formidable as the barrier. If the toll increased at the same rate, then this lady would not survive the act. She was barely strong enough to finally get back to her feet, with the unkindly assistance of Antonius. Yet, none of it seemed to phase Dalla's determination. She glowered at Caeli.

  "So, this pathetic little creature must be Caeli. You are not even capable of slipping the clutches of wispy old Nemi. And you wanted thought you could steal the book. That is so predictable. You didn’t really believe that we would leave it unguarded and allow such a petty crime as robbery to thwart us, did you? Nobody can touch this book besides me and Vin. It runs in the family, you know," Dalla’s condescending tone was intended to intimidate Caeli. It was a wasted effort, but her words did hit home. This lady was related to Vin? Of course, that was the familiarity that caught Caeli's attention, though she was not able to pla
ce it at the time. She definitely bore a resemblance to Vin.

  "Seems to me," Caeli rasped in response with a smirk on her face, "that I can handle a lot more than you can dish out. I can still see a tint of green from your dainty fainting spell. Feeling better now?"

  "Ha! Without me, the book would be useless. You, on the other hand, have nothing at all to offer. All of this fuss over you, and you bring nothing of value to the game. You're useless. It would have been much better if you had died instead of my brother. At least he might have made a difference with the proper guidance," Dalla retorted in a flush of self-importance.

  "Well, I’m sure your feminine wiles are a much used talent, but I doubt they’ll have the same lasting effect on your boss as what I just gave him," Caeli answered calmly.

  Dalla walked up to stand inches in front of Caeli, the reek of her over perfumed skin making Caeli’s stomach churn. She leaned in close so that she could whisper directly into Caeli’s ear.

  "Did you know that your husband visited me last night? Vin told me how much he desired to love his family. Why was no visitor seen in your room? I guess he thought my company suited him better than yours."

  Another futile attempt to undermine her confidence, but it would never work. Caeli knew Vin better than that. He may well have tried to deter his sister from foolishly helping Antonius, and probably even tried to convince her that love of family was reason enough to be dissuaded, but he would never even consider doing what she blatantly implied. Besides, just because Vin's visit went unnoticed, didn’t lessen the value of his silent vigil to Caeli.

  Antonius listened to all of this, amused enough to let it run its course right up until Dalla’s last admission. He snatched her away and shoved her across the room.

  "Eyvindr was here last night? And you didn’t report him or call out? Why not, Dalla?" Antonius was furious that she didn't inform him.

  "It wasn’t important. He only wanted to talk me out of helping you," she stammered through her fear.

  "He left right after I refused."

  "Stupid woman!" Antonius spat vehemently.

  "We could have taken control of him then, caught him unprepared. Instead, you let him go so that he could arrive with his full arsenal of defenders. Already, I begin to feel their presence near the spine. If I didn’t need you alive, I would send you to say hello to your brother directly." He stalked over and clamped down on Dalla's arm, dragging her degradingly along behind him as he stormed out of the room.

  "Sir, you don’t actually need…" As Antonius passed by, Nemi tried to offer an observation of his own, but Antonius did not stop to listen.

  Nemi escorted Caeli back to her cell. She noted a few drops of blood around the small window in the door and on the metal of the bolt. Nemi must have struggled against the wood to maneuver himself far enough around to be able to reach through and work the bolt free; an impressive feat. Her arms would not have been long enough to cover the distance from the window to the lock. Caeli walked through the door and crossed to sit down heavily on the bed, hurting from head to toe. The door was closed and locked behind her. The wooden cover plate of the window was also latched shut so that she could not look out to view anything happening in the hall. Caeli leaned back and closed her eyes to rest a short while before trying again. As she was drifting off, she imagined a soft caress on the side of her cheek.

  When she woke an hour later, Caeli looked at the scenery outside the window again. The storm continued to build, and now the sky was half filled with thick, rolling black clouds. Caeli could see between the drifting of the cumuli that the comet she and Vin wanted to view nearly a week ago was directly overhead in the early morning sky. Caeli found it odd that wanting to see such a beautiful sight was the beginning of all her current troubles. Now, at what should be the end of the ordeal, the sight loomed above her as if to document the outcome. The faint rumblings of thunder in the distance foretold the coming storm.

  At least that would help cover the sounds of her next attempt to break free. While Caeli rested, a single notion took shape and become a new plan. The covering on the door’s window would prevent anyone from seeing what Caeli was trying to do or from trying to stop her before she discovered if this plan would work.

  Caeli tugged, lifted, and pulled the heavy bed, trying to be as quiet as possible. She finally managed to scoot it directly against the wall beneath the small, high window. Then she moved the tall, rod iron chair from its spot beside the door and placed it next to the bed. Finally, Caeli pushed the squat dresser, inch by inch, across the floor so that it ended up two thirds in front of the door, blocking the unhinged side, creating an effective barricade against anyone who might try to enter the room. The effort expended to rearrange the three pieces of furniture sapped what little strength she mustered, and Caeli was forced to sit down in the chair and rest before continuing. Nobody said it was going to be easy.

  The clash of thunder sounded louder as the storm drew near. Caeli drew on the last reserves of her fortitude to continue her task. The window was small, three feet wide and only a foot and half tall. It rested high in the wall at the full extent of Caeli's reach. She could place her fingertips on the sill if she stretched up on her toes.

  Caeli pulled the gray blanket from the bed and threw it over the top of the chair. She heaved the chair up onto the bed with her. Then, as a particularly loud roll of thunder boomed overhead, she lifted and swung the chair at the window. The size and weight of the chair made it less effective than she hoped, but the glass did break in several places. She swung the chair again, this time holding on to the legs and trying to leverage the high back of the chair as it impacted the pane. Several large fragments of the shattered windowpane flew outward with the force of the blow. The smell of rain laden air drifted down into the room along with a shower of smaller pieces of the glass panel which assaulted Caeli's head and face as she pulled the chair down onto the bed. She turned away from the falling shards and covered her head with her arms until the deluge stopped.

  She quickly removed the covering from the chair and shook the glass onto the bed. Thankfully, they fell silently against the mattress as she intended, thus keeping the clattering to a minimum and avoiding noises that would alert Nemi to her actions.

  Caeli placed the chair’s feet as steadily as possible on the bed with its back against the wall, directly below the window. Balancing precariously on the seat, Caeli could reach the window. She wrapped the blanket around her left hand and forearm and used it to knock out the glass that was still attached to the frame or lying on the sill. When she was satisfied that all the glass was cleaned away, Caeli folded the blanket in thirds and laid it over the bottom of the sill.

  "Now for the tricky part," she said to no one in particular.

  She reached through the thickness of the window frame to the outer wall and used her hands to feel for anything sturdy that she could grasp for leverage. Immediately below the window, Caeli discovered a metal rack which she determined to be a reel for a garden hose. This was a stroke of luck. She felt around until she was finally able to take hold of the hose and pull it into the room. Caeli pulled until the hose was completely unwound and hanging taut as it rose up from its connection to the building and dropped down again through her window. Despite the unusually high interior aspect of the window, she discovered that this was glad a ground level room.

  She used the chair for footholds and the hose as a hoist to pull herself up to the window. With a couple of bumps on her shoulders and ribs, Caeli was able to wiggle through the window and fall out the other side. She landed with an ungraceful thud on the wet ground which was, thankfully, only four feet below the exterior side of the window. The impact of the fall momentarily knocked the wind out of her, but her effort was successful. Caeli was free of her confinement, and no one was chasing after her yet.

  Caeli lingered only long enough to catch her breath, and then used the wall to help support her as she rose unsteadily to her feet. She looked around, noting that her
room was on the side of the building closest to the woods. She began to move toward the trees, but stopped after only a few steps. Caeli could not bring herself to enter the sinister looking tree line. If she turned left and ran toward the front, she might be able to find a car or some other means of transportation. This would likely be her best chance of escape.

  As she started to move in that direction, Caeli made the mistake of glancing back at the practice field beyond the back of the building. Where the far end of the field rose to a height twice that of where she now stood, Caeli saw shimmering lights in the air. It looked as if an unseen wall was being hit by little balls of fire. She was inexplicably drawn toward the sight. Forgetting her thoughts of escape, Caeli changed directions a second time and moved toward the hill in the distance. For a reason she did not understand, she felt an urgency to reach that wall.

  She began to run, but stopped short at the edge of the building. Below her on the practice field, the students were out in full force. They were the source of the fireballs being thrown at the wall. Caeli would have to skirt the area and follow along the edge of the trees until she worked her way around to a place where the grassy field began its steep ascent to the high ridge of her destination.

  Caeli stumbled toward the tree line, trying to remain out of sight of the students, while letting the sounds of the storm overhead disguise any sound she might make. Slowly, her steps carried her forward as a light rain began to fall. It took ten minutes for Caeli to reach the base of the incline, and she was nearly exhausted. She stayed within the shelter of the trees and watched, trying to determine exactly what was transpiring before her.

  The acolytes maintained a steady bombardment against the invisible wall. However, their missiles were no longer reaching their target. They were being intercepted twenty feet in front of it. Caeli scrutinized the scene and tried to focus on how the projectiles were being turned aside, but was unable to see clearly. Yet she was able to determine that this was the first part of the plan as Antonius described it to her. The attack on the barrier was under way, and its defenders were doing their job. Caeli assumed that Vin was likely to have returned with these same soldiers. Perhaps Vin was out there now.