The Book of Elements

by Cynthia Woods

  Caeli remembered every detail the deacon arrogantly outlined. So she looked toward the top of the ridge and saw three figures that she recognized. Antonius stood monitoring the battle below with one hand clamped tightly to Dalla’s arm. She seemed a bit subdued. The third person turned out to be the unflappable Nemi. He was carrying the pedestal with the book atop it. The book was covered to prevent damage from the wind and rain. They stopped moving as Caeli noticed them, and Nemi placed the bookstand in front of Dalla.

  From reserves she didn't know she possessed, Caeli called forth the strength to run up the steep hill. She did not care if they caught her this time. She could not let Antonius use the book again. As she crested the rise and raced toward them, all three looked up. Antonius began to laugh, thinking Caeli intended to attack him directly. She paid him no heed and drove straight toward the stand, throwing herself into it.

  This was not what the deacon anticipated. As the stand fell and the book tumbled from its place, Dalla was hurled forward to retrieve it. Caeli kicked out at her as she rushed passed, causing Dalla to trip and fall, though she recovered with little effort.

  Again it was Nemi who ended Caeli’s short lived assault. He threw himself on top of her and pinned her face down against the ground. She could not move her arms or legs, but could watch as Dalla crawled across the grass and picked up the book. For a split second, a look of puzzlement crossed Dalla's face, but then she returned the book to where Antonius waited beside the righted pedestal. Caeli could only watch, helpless to cause any further disruption.

  "It's so good of you to join us. We were beginning to wonder if we should have allowed you to escape or not. I almost sent Nemi after you, but at the last minute you made the right choice and came back to us. How could you decide anything else? You couldn't, of course." Antonius stated with the arrogance of one who was confident of the manner in which this would unfurl.

  Antonius looked away from the three who surrounded him, focused off in the distance. He smiled.

  "Dalla, it’s time. Link me to the book, and let's put an end to this farce."

  Antonius wrapped one arm around the woman’s waist and waited. She reached out with both of her hands to rest them on the book. They waited. A faint glow appeared on the cover and then faded. They waited again, but nothing further happened.

  CHAPTER 34

  Salma and Ben were approximately three miles away from the monastery when Vin joined them in Ben's jeep, unintentionally startling Salma again. She tossed the map she was using to navigate into the air. Ben could not help himself and indulged in a grand laugh from his place behind the wheel.

  "Vin, you could warn a person before popping up like that," Salma chastised.

  "Sorry," Vin answered with a slight grin observed by Ben through the rear view mirror.

  "You’re almost there. It’s just a few more miles up this road. When we get there, we’ll stop a quarter mile away, and I’ll lead you to a side entrance through the dining hall. It's late and nobody will be roaming through that area. I’ve found a place where you can hide until time to act. As soon as you make the swap, you both have to get back to the car without being stopped; then wait. I will send Caeli to you. She might be pursued, so I’ll trust you, Ben, to keep an eye out and help her if necessary."

  "Of course," Ben responded, "but wouldn’t it be more helpful if only one of us went with you and the other stayed in the car?" He was suggesting that it was too dangerous to allow Salma to go inside.

  "I would like to agree with you, Ben, but I don’t think you will let Salma go inside without you."

  "What? No, that’s not what I meant," Ben stammered at Vin's unexpected response.

  "Ben, we’ve been over this. I don't like putting her in harm's way any more than you do, but I need Salma. Without her senses, I might run into trouble and this will all be for naught. So, unless you want to stay behind, which I know you don’t, then you will both have to accompany me. I don’t have time to debate it with you. What will it be?"

  "Both of us," Ben answered in resignation as his last attempt to change Vin’s mind failed. Vin completely understood how Ben felt. He tried to reassure Ben that Salma would be in very little danger if his plan went as expected, but Ben would not be consoled. He knew the best laid plans hardly ever went as expected. He agreed to go along with the plan, but he would not let Salma go without him.

  Ben pulled the jeep off to the side of the road as he detected the outline of the building up ahead. He turned off the lights, windshield wipers, and the engine. They walked the short distance to the old building and moved around its right side, following Vin's lead. Near the middle of the wall, a wooden door stood ajar. The three crept unnoticed into the large hall and moved quietly in the shadows of the interior wall until they reach the double doors that led to the building’s main hallway.

  They quickly ran to the far end, where the doors to the building’s front entrance stood shut and barred. Ben and Salma turned right and followed Vin down another hall to the next intersection and then turned left. A final right turn brought them to the hall where Caeli was being held. There were three doors on each side of the hall. Vin’s earlier inspection revealed that the first room on each side was vacant. He told them to hide in the first room on the left, knowing that he placed them in a room directly beside Caeli. If anything went wrong, at least they would be close to her.

  Vin left them and went to sit by Caeli for a while. Then he went to the last room on the right where he tried to dissuade Dalla from her twisted idea of vengeance. Beyond that, all Vin could do was wait. He allowed Dalla to think that he left, when, in fact, Vin merely concealed himself from her senses. His ability was much stronger than hers, but his preoccupation with other matters caused him to miss the final words Dalla uttered as he took a short break to his grassy hillside. He returned soon because he wanted to keep an eye on the Book of Elements without Dalla being aware of his presence.

  He was reviewing each step of his plan while he waited through the hours. Vin sensed a commotion in the hall and then the door to Dalla’s room flew open. Caeli raced inside. She attempted to grab the book, but was tackled from behind before she could seize it. The man who held the knife to Caeli's throat during the encounter at Kent’s house caught her once again.

  Vin was barely able to restrain his desire to help Caeli, but reminded himself that they would not kill her. He realized that this was the plan he had watched her forming earlier. Instead of trying to free herself, Caeli thought this would help him. She must have learned enough to know that the book was integral to the success of the deacon's plot, and Caeli was trying to intervene, no matter the cost to herself. It was a clear example of the unselfish spirit Vin loved in her.

  "Caeli, you still amaze me." He didn't think she could hear him, and that was probably for the best.

  He watched Antonius, the name Dalla called the deacon during their recent chat, as he entered the room and struck a now restrained Caeli. But the next turn of events made him smile with pride and love for Caeli. She dared to defy the man and even got in a few good shots of her own before he turned the power of the Book of Elements against her. Unfortunately, Caeli had no defense against that. She endured it with sheer determination. Vin ground his teeth to prevent his emotions from escaping his control until, at last, her torment ended.

  Dalla also suffered for the use of the book, but recovered enough to be angry at what she saw as her own shortcoming. She projected that bitterness onto Caeli, who was having none of it. She countered each of Dalla’s verbal jabs with one of her own. It was only when Dalla whispered a remark revealing Vin’s earlier visit that Antonius interceded. In a fit of anger, he denounced Dalla's loyalty and then pulled her from the room. Nemi took Caeli back to her original cell.

  Vin followed to ensure that Caeli would be all right, and was unable to resist the urge to comfort her with a brief touch. However, he did not linger long. This was the opportunity Vin needed, and he seized it. Once the hall was clear, V
in retrieved Salma and Ben from their hiding place and took them to the room where the book lay temporarily unguarded.

  Ben kept watch at the door while Vin instructed Salma to pull the cloth up around the book so that she did not come in direct contact with it. A few times Salma's fingers brushed against the edges of the pages, and she felt a resultant tingle.

  After Salma successfully rewrapped the book in its own covering, which was laying beneath it on the stand, she removed it and placed it in a backpack that she carried with her. From that same bag, Salma removed the replica they created and put it in place atop the black pedestal. They left the room, and Vin led them back outside, following the reverse of the course they walked when they entered. When they reached the front of the building, Vin gave them their final tasks.

  "Go back and put the book in the trunk of the car, and keep an eye out for Caeli. I will be joining the defending angels when they arrive. As soon as Antonius tries to use the fake book, I’ll get Caeli out of there and send her to you. Then the three of you need to get as far away from here as possible. Drive away and don't look back. Tell Caeli… no, don't bother. She knows. If possible, I’ll find you when this is over. If not, thank you both."

  "Good luck, Vin," Salma and Ben both offered. He thanked them one last time and watched them start their walk down the long driveway before turning away himself and heading for the shimmering light beginning to form at the top of the ridge.

  The remainder of the night was uneventful, and Vin spent most of it trying unsuccessfully to visualize how this would end. It was not long after dawn that the attack against the barrier commenced. The angels waited to make their presence known until ten minutes later. It was a mighty sight to unnerve even the most steadfast of opponents. At this, the final episode began. By the time Vin was able to discern the full array of angels, they were already engaged with the enemy’s minions. The fires that were hurled toward the physical representation of the barrier were being repelled by Heaven’s first line of defense.

  Vin recognized Raphael in the middle of that line. He was amazed to see the suggestion of large wings at Raph's back. It was not as he imagined an angel’s wings would appear, particularly since Vin came to know Raphael without seeing them at all. Yet, now they were evident, their shape and dimension defined by the energies that swirled around them rather than their own visibility, they seemed appropriate. Raphael stood foremost among the defenders, his sword deflecting or absorbing, as he saw fit, the projectiles that ventured into his wide reach. The energy that was absorbed by his sword replenished and enhanced Raphael's own strength and endurance, which was already far superior to that of the mortal men who sought his defeat. Each volley that he deflected was sent on a return path to its creator. Some of them hit the mark, causing injuries equivalent to that which was cast, while others were evaded and dissipated into nothingness. Once or twice, Vin thought the energy returning seemed greater than its original power, probably thanks to a little angelic manipulation. Raphael stood his ground and was not showing any signs of weakness.

  To each of Raphael’s sides, two or three imposing figures of a similar nature worked as valiantly as he did to prevent any further damage to the barrier. Each of the six held a shimmering sword of flowing, iridescent colors. Raphael’s blade, Vin noted, was tinted a pale blue with hints of white and light gray flickering randomly along its surface. On the other swords, Vin saw a variety of shades of greens, browns, and blues and other colors intermittently catching the light.

  There was not much that found its way past this first defensive line, from which Vin noticed that Michael was conspicuously absent. He did not doubt for an instant that Michael was fully involved. He was probably facing the foe on a different level and overseeing the strategy and movements of his troops; tactics consistent with his leadership role. As such, behind the first row, there were approximately ten other angels. Vin saw Tabbris among them and assumed that Urim would likely be somewhere in that group as well.

  Under any other circumstances, this unprecedented sight would have sent men fleeing in terror or falling to their knees in overwhelming awe. Vin did not understand how the young assailants managed to keep themselves from panicking and turning to run away. Vin himself was amazed by the tableau. Yet remain they did, and they did a decent job of occupying the defenders with their incessant barrage.

  Still, sixteen against thirty five humans made the odds difficult at best. Vin weighed it in favor of the angels, of course. The students hurled energy from the living side of the barrier against the angelic host. The angels, by comparison, had to exert great amounts of energy just to be on this side of the barrier, much less offer a proper defense. Vin did not, however, discount their ability. The angels were vastly more skilled, had countless millennia of experience, and possessed an enduring patience; none of which the attackers could muster. Yet, the assailants had the benefit of drawing on the physical earth for their energy, and they did not have to exert any extra effort to remain on the battlefield. With the odds weighted accordingly, the battle continued.

  Vin neared the site, intending to give his aid to the angels, but was stopped by a site higher up on the ridge. He saw Caeli. She was running toward the crest of the hill, straight into the middle of the fray. Vin looked up in the direction she was headed and immediately understood her goal. She had not given up after the mishap in the book room. She somehow slipped their clutches again, and was now trying again to stop Antonius and Dalla from using the book.

  Caeli charged upward and slammed into the pedestal, knocking it down, and sending the book tumbling away in the other direction. Dalla lunged after it, and a third person, that same wiry little man who twice avoided his punishment, rapidly subdued Caeli and pinned her to the ground.

  This time, Vin rushed to her aid without hesitation. He moved close enough to wrap airy tendrils around Nemi and rip him away from Caeli. The man was thrown ten feet away, but rebounded with the lithe quickness of a cat. He looked toward Vin, who allowed himself to be seen clearly, then drew a knife, and sprang at Caeli once more. He did not get two steps before Vin held him dangling above the ground by a lethal grip on his throat. If Vin continued to apply pressure, the man would die without further ado, but Vin's attention and his energy were distracted by a new, ominous feeling. Nemi, the would-be assassin, took advantage of the opportunity to wiggle his way loose and resume his pursuit of Caeli. She was trying to move closer to Vin, moving against the strong wind, but had not reached him yet.

  Suddenly, a large, solid blur came barreling out from behind Vin and dove straight at the former house servant. Ben rushed into the mix and pummeled the slim man viciously. The protector of law and order obviously decided that Vin needed his assistance more than he needed to wait out front. Ben wrestled with Nemi on the rain soaked ground, each trying to gain an advantage over the other. Ben’s size offset the other man’s well-honed fighting skills. At one point, Ben’s foot slipped on the wet grass, giving Nemi an opening to plunge his knife deeply into Ben’s right side. Despite the pain, Ben fought on. He continued to struggle into a position that enabled him to block the second knife strike, break the man’s arm, and deliver an upward thrusting elbow to his opponent’s nose with enough force to send bone shards into the man’s brain. The fight was over only minutes after it began. Ben collapsed forward onto the ground as Salma rushed to his side to help him.

  "Ben, it’s ok. I’m here. I’ll get you patched up. You’ll be all right," Salma cried as she tended him.

  "Ok, Doc," Ben replied in obvious pain.

  "Just sit still, keep pressure on the wound. She reached over and yanked the shirt off the dead man and began tearing strips of material from it. While she worked, Salma tried to catch Vin’s attention, but she could not tell if he heard her or not. He was focused on some distant disturbance.

  "Vin! Vin, I know that man. Vin, can you hear me?" Salma yelled through the turbulent winds. Vin seemed preoccupied with something she could not see, but Salma kept trying.r />
  "Vin! Do you remember my mother’s second husband, the one she married when she thought my dad and I had been killed; the man who sired Caeli's father; the guy who nearly went mad at the death of his son? Ben showed me a photo of him. The man over there is the same man. Vin, that man over there is Caeli’s grandfather!"

  Without much thought, Vin used the wind to lift his two friends off the top of the ridge and set them gently down at the bottom of the slope, near the tree line and out of harm's way. Vin heard Salma's words through his haze. Yet he hardly registered the details. He had not heard Salma’s scream at all as she watched the fight from behind him. The one thing Vin did notice was the fact that Caeli was no longer approaching him. She had stopped moving completely. While this concerned him greatly, Vin's main focus remained on the unknown force he felt at work. It scared him as nothing he had ever experienced. A tremendous force was building deep within the earth, the feeling of a giant stirring.

  Vin turned to assess Antonius when he felt the first tremor of awakening. The deacon furiously threw the fake book from his sight after Dalla's repeated attempts to draw forth its power failed. When Antonius realized what happened, how smoothly Vin tricked him, the deacon knocked over the pedestal in his anger. Antonius then used his own energies to snare Caeli in a manner similar to what Vin used on Nemi, and he grabbed Dalla by the throat with his uninjured left hand.

  "You useless slut! He played you," the deacon yelled at Dalla.