The Inner Circle: The Gates of Hae'Evun

by Cael McIntosh

  'He needs to be healed then,' El-i-miir replied, recognising where Teah was taking the discussion. 'He's that bad?'

  'I'm afraid so,' Teah said softly. 'And I've seen you do it before.'

  'Of course,' El-i-miir replied.

  'Yes, but I'm afraid it's a little more complicated than that,' the angel continued. 'I counted at least a dozen legion soldiers and then there's Noah.'

  'I can do it,' El-i-miir said with more certainty than she felt. 'If you take care of Noah, I'll affiliate the others.'

  'I'll free Ilgrin,' Jakob added. 'You two will be plenty occupied with everything else. Let me release him. I owe him that much,' he finished, cradling his arm protectively.

  'Let's go then,' Teah replied.

  'If you betray us,' El-i-miir jabbed a finger into Jakob's chest, 'I swear to Maker I'll affiliate you into leaping to your death.'

  The three felt their way through the trees until their surroundings began to lighten and the crackling of a fire revealed how close they were to camp. The woods came to an abrupt end, beyond which was a clearing. A strip of pale white within the dark on the opposite side of the clearing set El-i-miir's heart racing. Ilgrin's aura swam weakly in and out of existence around a limp body chained to a tree.

  'Is that . . . ?' Teah enquired by El-i-miir's ear.

  'It's him,' El-i-miir replied. 'Look over there,' she pointed to their left where Noah's gigantic grey mass slept hunched beneath a tree.

  'Could I have some water?' Ilgrin's tired voice floated over to El-i-miir's ears and almost rendered her unfit to move. It was the same plea he'd once made of her as an Elglair captive. He didn't deserve to suffer that way twice . . . or at all.

  'Be quiet,' one of the two demons guarding him warned. 'Don't wake him up, whatever you do.'

  'We should circle around,' Jakob whispered. 'There's no way we'll make it otherwise.'

  'You're right,' Teah replied.

  As they snuck around the camp, El-i-miir became increasingly aware of the large number of silts sleeping above them. If one of them should wake up, there would be no hope. She stumbled and snatched at Jakob's collar to yank him back just as he'd been about to step over the edge of the cliff. 'Look,' she whispered, crouching down and waving her hand threw thin air. 'It's the edge.'

  'Each of you take my hands,' Teah offered. El-i-miir was grateful to take advantage of the opportunity. Teah used her elongated toes to feel their way along the edge and back to the relative safety of the trees. 'Where's Noah?' The angel whispered, stopping abruptly. It was a question that froze El-i-miir in her tracks. The mutant had no aura and she was as ignorant to his actions as anyone else. There was a loud thud and a flash of movement as Noah leapt toward them, roaring with extended wings. Jakob threw up his pistol and a blast rang out.

  'Get down!' Teah shouted, pushing the others to the ground before they'd had the chance to do so of their own accord.

  El-i-miir hit the dirt and rolled over in time to see Noah slam into Teah and watch as the pair sailed over the precipice. 'Torrid,' she gasped as the trees came to life with the beating of too many wings. 'Ilgrin,' El-i-miir cried, racing over to his sagging body. 'Oh, Ilgrin.'

  She wept at the sight of a body bruised blue, covered in lacerations and horrific bite marks. 'Go,' El-i-miir snapped at the guarding silts, having affiliated them instantly. 'How do I get these off,' El-i-miir cried in frustration, yanking at Ilgrin's chains.

  'El-i-miir,' Jakob said as he approached, again cocking his pistol. 'Leave this to me.' He put the barrel against the chains and pulled the trigger.

  El-i-miir spun away as bark sprayed into the air and the chains fell to the ground. She heard Ilgrin topple forward and Jakob doing everything he could to soften the blow, but she could no longer help Ilgrin. If she wanted him to survive, he could not be her priority. The silts drew their scythes and removed their pistols from holsters as they closed in from every direction. Teah's estimate of only a dozen had been terribly incorrect.

  While attempting to maintain her cool, El-i-miir spun in a slow circle establishing an affiliated link with as many demons as she dared. 'There are so many of us,' she whispered through fifteen mouths. Fifteen people put a hand to their stomachs, feeling nauseated as El-i-miir's consciousness continued to divide. Several unaffiliated silts landed before El-i-miir and one of them slapped a hand around her throat. A moment later, he released the human woman's neck and stepped away. She flared her wings and howled in dizzy frustration. Another demon dove toward her and the masses of affiliated ones threw out their hands in protest, crying as one, 'Just stop!'

  'El-i-miir?' Jakob called. She heard his voice from across the clearing and from right behind her. He was beneath her as she flew and to her left and right. Some twenty heads turned toward the man from twenty different locations to perceive him in twenty different ways. Everyone put their hands to the sides of their heads and stumbled in harmony with El-i-miir. She rested a hand on Jakob's shoulder, but the man retreated in fear. She looked at her hand to find that it lacked fingernails. It wasn't her hand. It was a demon's.

  'He's dying,' Jakob persisted, turning to El-i-miir. The woman's eyes were glazed over and she fidgeted with uncertainty, just another of the bodies between which her consciousness was divided.

  'I can't,' El-i-miir said through twenty-something mouths as the strands continued to spread. 'Which one am I?' They uttered in frustration. 'We are all of us.'

  Teah hit the ground, flipped over, and rolled several times before smashing into a tree and coming to a stop facedown. Noah landed heavily behind her, snatched at the woman's leg, and spun her around before releasing her to sail back over the edge.

  'What is wrong with you all?' Noah thundered at his legion of soldiers frozen in place, a few of them watching him while most of them focused on Ilgrin as his eyes began to close.

  'I have to save him,' the legion soldiers wailed in unison. 'Help him,' El-i-miir heard her true voice screaming from somewhere in the clearing. 'Do something,' she cried above the din of droning voices. Some demons fell sobbing, others wailed their dismay toward a Maker El-i-miir didn't believe in. And still others began to twitch about, wondering if they really were this human woman, after all. 'Heal him,' she howled into her countless ears and with an explosive surge through every line they all reacted at once.

  El-i-miir felt her many legs charging across the earth. 'We must help him,' they all cried together. 'We have to fix him. Ilgrin,' the many El-i-miirs gasped. 'I love you.' Jakob's eyes widened and he leapt back from Ilgrin's body as he was swamped with silts, all fighting to offer their assistance. 'Don't you die on me,' the mass pleaded, each reaching for Ilgrin. One twisted his head one way, another pulled at his body. A third threw himself around Ilgrin's legs and held on tight murmuring, 'I love you,' over and over again. A fourth snatched up Ilgrin's wing and tried to drag him free of the others. He had to save Ilgrin! He loved him.

  'What is this?' Noah shouted, waving his arm through the legion soldiers with such force that many sprayed into the air. El-i-miir cried out as she flew in countless directions and felt the pain of countless blows.

  'I have to save him,' shrieked the possessed. El-i-miir flared her wings and landed on Noah's shoulders, reaching down to stab him repeatedly. She put too many hands on Ilgrin's body and pushed against him. 'Come back,' they cried, their hands itching.

  Noah tore El-i-miir from his face and broke her wing before tossing him over the edge of the cliff. She felt herself die. She pushed through, but Noah found her and broke her neck. She hit the earth to die yet again.

  'No, no, no,' she sobbed, finding a place for human hands atop a chest covered in long demon fingers. 'I can still fix this,' El-i-miir sobbed, putting a hand on Ilgrin's cheek, just for a moment remembering who she was before Noah killed her again. El-i-miir howled as her wing was torn and her ankle was broken. She tried to limp to safety but Noah cut open her neck and El-i-miir died again.

  Jakob leapt away from the horde of demons
writhing atop Ilgrin and walked toward Noah firing his pistol at the monster's chest. Chunks of grey flesh blasted away in a spray of blackish blue blood. The monster moaned and then roared his fury as he turned to face his old Sa'Tanist, but before he could do anything, Teah landed in front of him and threw out her arms.

  Noah stumbled back, his body quivering. He fell to the ground flailing, but stopped abruptly and stood to laugh. The sieift churned free of Noah's flesh as he snarled victoriously. Teah frowned, keeping her hands extended so that the white mist continued to flow. Noah didn't seem to care. Several silts turned to face him in reflection of El-i-miir's surprise. 'You're no match for me.' He backhanded the angel across the face. She flipped through the air and skidded across the dirt.

  'Please come back,' El-i-miir turned all of her various attentions to Ilgrin. She pushed every spare hand she had against him and closed her eyes, rejoicing as they burned. 'You're coming back to me,' the silts whispered.

 

  CHAPTER Twenty-Six

  the price of life

  An explosion by his ear left it ringing. Without the chains for support, Ilgrin's body fell to the ground. A mass of people smothered him as his consciousness faded. The legion soldiers cried out messages of love even as they pulled painfully at his limbs and pressed so hard against him that he couldn't breathe.

  Forcing his eyes open, Ilgrin found himself staring up into a familiar face. El-i-miir squirmed for her place among the masses of demons. Her face reflected the sorrow of everyone around her as they pushed and fought to get closer. El-i-miir was tiny among the creatures and frequently got pushed or elbowed aside, but she somehow always managed to struggle back to the front.

  If Ilgrin hadn't been so delirious on his deathbed he might've found time to wonder at the peculiarity of the scene before him. Instead he closed his eyes.

  'I love you, son.' Urelie touched his hot cheek and dabbed a cold towel against eight-year-old Ilgrin's forehead. 'You'll be okay.' She tapped the end of his nose. 'You're a strong boy and you'll be an even stronger man. And do you know how I know that?'

  'How?' Ilgrin scrunched up his face in confusion.

  'Because you're a good boy.' Urelie kissed his forehead. 'You're not like them. You're perfect.' She smiled adoringly, while behind her eyes lingered apprehension and fear.

  'I'm a good boy,' Ilgrin murmured as the hands pressed down on him. He coughed once. He choked and coughed. His eyes opened. The demons pulled away and Ilgrin felt his veins beginning to burn. The whisp lurched about inside of him, seeking duteously to escape its cocoon. It wriggled about in confusion, small portions of it having come from dozens of separate tiny acts.

  'Ilgrin,' El-i-miir whispered alone, her eyes wide and vacant. 'I can't hold them any longer.' Her words were pinched. She narrowed her eyes at him. 'Who are you?' Her mouth opened in disbelief. 'Sa'Enoch! He's here,' she cried. 'He's over here.' She spun around in a sharp circle. 'Where are my wings?'

  'El-i-miir,' Ilgrin said raggedly. He pushed to his feet and took her hand. 'Snap out of this,' he managed before doubling over to choke and gag as the whisp came out of him, dozens of separate little puffs.

  'What happened to your wings?' El-i-miir laughed. 'What about mine. Oh, my Maker,' she giggled. 'I'm a human girl. You two stop that. I'm a girl, too.'

  'El-i-miir,' Ilgrin coughed, black mist seeping out of his mouth and nostrils. 'Focus,' he shook her by the shoulders. 'You're El-i-miir.'

  'We are?' El-i-miir enquired softly. The murmur was repeated by the affiliated.

  'Oh, Maker,' Ilgrin fell to his knees and burped loudly, the whisps no longer peaceable in their evacuation. The mist puffed out of Ilgrin's mouth, hit the ground, and rebounded into the air. He coughed several times as the final whisps abandoned him and the black patches drifted together to sit above them as an ominous cloud.

  'We are silts,' El-i-miir said in astonishment. 'We're not a human girl. I'm so confused.' She and the others laughed. 'We're so happy you're okay though,' they all said with beaming smiles. 'We love you.'

  Ilgrin's attention snapped across the clearing at the sound of Teah's scream. Noah was almost obscured by an endless sieift flowing from his body. His foot was pressed up against Teah's back as he pulled on her wings. The joint in her right wing popped and the woman flushed blue in agony. 'Teah!' Ilgrin cried, hurrying over.

  'No,' the legion soldiers howled furiously, as they stepped in to block the way. 'You don't love her!' they shouted as one.

  'El-i-miir.' Ilgrin spun around in search of her. 'Don't do this. He's going to kill her.'

  'Why should I care?' the legion soldiers asked. 'We hate angels. In Hades we hunt them for sport.'

  'You're confused,' Ilgrin cried, pushing up against the soldiers. 'Get out of my way,' he demanded, punching one of them in the face.

  'Ouch.' The silt a bruised cheek and looked at Ilgrin with hurt in his eyes. 'You hit me. I never thought you would hit me.'

  Noah fell to his knees, his wings drooping. Teah's attack had started to wear him down. 'Ilgrin,' she cried out for help as the monster started to fall.

  'Let me through!' Ilgrin shouted as he fought against the masses. He tried to fly, but they only beat him down again.

  'Fine!' The soldiers parted abruptly. 'Be with her. We don't need you. We'll fly home alone.'

  'Teah.' Ilgrin burst passed the silts as Noah fell, his weight pinning the angel to the earth. 'I've got you,' he grunted. He grabbed Teah beneath the arms, but was unable to make her budge.

  'Ilgrin,' she whispered hoarsely.

  'Don't give up.' He kicked at Noah in frustration. 'I've got you.'

  'Ilgrin,' Teah wheezed as she stretched out a hand. 'El-i-miir.' She pointed shakily.

  Ilgrin turned toward the precipice where the legion soldiers were taking off one by one. El-i-miir stood on the edge with arms outstretched. 'We can fly,' she whispered, taking a step forward and vanishing in a second.

  'El-i-miir!' Ilgrin leapt to his feet and ran for the edge.

  'Stop,' Noah rumbled. His voice was tired, but he was alive. Ilgrin halted at the edge and turned back. The mutant had a silver blade pressed against Teah's throat. 'Don't move.'

  Precious seconds were wasted. Ilgrin stared into Teah's eyes. He wanted to apologise for what he was about to do. But her eyes pleaded too much and he was out of time. Ilgrin spread his wings and dove.

  'Ilg--' Teah's cry was cut off as her throat was sliced open.

  Still wrapped in affiliation, upward of twenty silts fell toward the earth. She must've suddenly realised that she couldn't fly and as a result, neither could anyone else. Not one of them beat their wings. They simply howled, falling through the air in fear. Ilgrin folded his wings tight, making himself as streamlined as possible. If he couldn't find El-i-miir, she'd hit the earth and be killed for good. Such a fall would render her far too dead to resurrect.

  Handswidth by painful handswidth, Ilgrin overtook the falling silts and found a wingless figure flailing below. She was falling too fast and although he couldn't find it in the dark, Ilgrin was certain the earth was quickly approaching. He opened his wings just a fraction, risking the air catching them and breaking them, so that he could propel himself to faster speeds. He opened them just slightly, squeezed them shut and was relieved to find an increase in propulsion being added to his momentum.

  A rocky ledge protruded from the cliff face below. El-i-miir missed it by a handswidth. As Ilgrin closed in he was able to make out hazy patches of trees. He pushed himself harder, all the while knowing that there would be no escaping hitting the earth and hitting it hard. He'd built up too much momentum and they were far too close.

  Ilgrin thrust out his toes and snapped them shut around El-i-miir's leg and arm, before slowly opening his wings. If he did so too fast, he'd break them; too slow and they'd both wind up too dead. He transferred the woman to his arms, spreading his wings a little farther, slowing their descent not nearly enough. 'El-i-miir,' he cried over the wind, doubtful as to wh
ether she could hear him.

  A legion soldier swooped toward them. He made a grasp at Ilgrin but his grip failed, the action only having managed to slow them down. 'Ilgrin's going to die,' El-i-miir wailed as the other silts caught up. They snatched onto him for a moment each before opening their wings and having them break. Each time their descent was slowed just a little. 'I've got you, Ilgrin!' a soldier shouted by his ear, spreading his wings. The three of them jolted. El-i-miir cried out in pain and the soldier was lost to the wind.

  'This is going to hurt!' Ilgrin shouted as the trees came too close. He spread his wings. The strain was almost unbearable, but at least they didn't break. So he pushed them farther. When Ilgrin had finally gotten his wings to open completely, they were whipped back painfully. Slender branches slapped at his face as he fought for control.

  A tree loomed up before them and Ilgrin manoeuvred sharply, but not in time to avoid his legs hitting the trunk. Ignoring the pain, he banked sharply to miss the top of another tree. A branch leapt out of the darkness and he dove beneath it. Leaves rained down around them as he negotiated the canopy. Beneath it conditions were much worse; the darkness more complete.

  Something was in his mind. Down, came the penetrating thought. Ilgrin lost his mind to be regained by another. He dipped his wings and did as she had told him. El-i-miir could see the trees' dim auras and knew when they were flying too close. It took every bit of faith he had, but Ilgrin gave himself over, trusting in El-i-miir's vision and hoping in her skills. She beat his wings and they twisted sideways as the ground flew up. 'It's too fast,' El-i-miir cried out, releasing control back to Ilgrin.

  'Hold on!' he shouted, wrapping his arms and wings around her to offer as much protection as possible.

  Ilgrin's feet hit the earth first, only to be whipped out from under him. He was flipped upside down. He squeezed El-i-miir tight, determined to lessen the deathly blows to her fragile human body. Ilgrin landed on his back, but somehow managed to keep his grip, encompassing El-i-miir as they tumbled head over heels through the leaf litter. Ilgrin's elbow cracked against something hard and sharp. He lost his grip and El-i-miir was flung into the night. He rolled over and over before coming to a stop when he hit a tree, unable to believe that he was still alive.