In Eden's Shadow

by Amanda Churi

  I just kept running. And running. And running for the longest two blocks of my existence, knocking away any who trod too close by whatever means necessary. Blending with the countless other sounds destroying my ears, an abnormally high-pitched frequency suddenly appeared.

  The blinding laser beam collided with Earth mere feet in front of me, blasting me through the open window of a grounded house. Reacting quickly, I shifted my center of mass in midair and skidded on all fours to the back of the home, huffing, snarling, and quite honestly losing it, especially when a handful of Bots graced me with their presence as they too shot into the home.

  I darted forward. Coruscus struck every one of them in the head before they had the opportunity to pick themselves up off the floor. When I was almost out the door, the death beam struck again. I slammed myself against the wall in the nick of time, squatting to keep my ground. This was supposed to be easy. Even with my incomparable strength, my mortality on Earth was proving to be a huge obstacle.

  My trembling hand gripped the plate of armor over my heart as the world groaned and convulsed at the Proxez’s mercy. Was this even worth it? I could just as well get rid of the damn Mark and live on Earth as a demon. Screw Satan and His game! Who said I had to do what He wanted any longer? And that wimp Korbu wasn’t here to make sure it happened. What—?

  A sharp sting zapped my heart, making me double over. I winced, waiting for it to pass. No… I have to keep going… Because if I don’t… I peered out the doorway, glaring down the aircraft hidden amongst the smog above that was readying another strike.

  If I don’t, I will never stop being controlled.

  “A d-demon…?”

  I didn’t know that voice. Dumbfounded, I looked back inside the home just as another laser dropped and violently illuminated the city, shedding light on the family huddled in the back—a family of humans.

  A young man clutched a swaddled child—one that was nothing but a bundle of torn red streamers. The father’s eyes were crazed and bloodshot, just like the rest of his body. A mauled woman lay face-down next to him, coating the floor in a reflective sheet of red; even so, the man held her shredded hand, terrified to let go.

  “A-are you here to help?” the man asked through chattering teeth. “Are you going to stop them?”

  I can honestly say that I didn’t know what to say. If I were to answer sincerely, I would have made a joke about how he was going to have to soon stop me. But that didn’t feel right; not now, anyway.

  I leaned down next to a slain bot, stepping on their shoulder and ripping their arm from their body. I threw it at the man, the arm stopping just short of his defeated lover. His face was a mix of mortification and confusion, especially as the Bot’s robotic fingers twitched, not entirely registering the detachment from their host.

  “We can’t win alone,” I grumbled. “You all have to fight too.” And with that, I sprinted back into the fray.

  The Encryption was no longer grouped; it was impossible to be after having several craters blasted into the earth. Bots continued to prowl the streets, though to a much lesser extreme, suffering their own fatalities at the hands of the Proxez. But the Encryptors were still running, dodging strikes and pushing their bodies to reach the street that many were now turning down.

  That was it! The end!

  I didn’t fight for anything nor anyone as soon as I realized what was right before me; whoever was left in the dust would have to get themselves out. I leaped side to side, avoiding attacks at all costs and only striking when absolutely necessary. I doubt I had ever moved faster; Satan’s Hell was doable for me, but this—Heaven no—and I definitely wasn’t going to the void to have tea with Korbu either.

  The aircraft continued striking, adrenaline holding my ankles steady and keeping me going as slates of earth were torn open. Fire was eating everything, bringing the city to a crisp, and at the entrance to the tunnels, it was the strongest.

  “Mabel…!” I growled.

  A lively sphere of fire pushed and pulsed around her small, overly confident frame as Mabel spun her hands and arms in complicated patterns to properly manipulate the flames. I didn’t know how she did it, but she certainly managed well-enough, creating tentacles of embers and sparks that reached out from the protective bubble and smacked away any Bot that tried to get past her.

  A notable number of Encryptors were still heading toward the tunnels, and when they reached Mabel, they harmlessly passed through the robust flames. That being said, the Bots could not penetrate the shield—neither the beams directly from the ships. The sphere did not deflect their strikes like Pinion’s but instead absorbed the energy, thickening and strengthening the walls of fire.

  “YOOHOOO!”

  The joyous cry startled me enough to make me look toward the rooftops, but by the time I did, Sage had already hooked their string to a Bot, ziplining to the ground with their needle. With a gleeful giggle, they severed the string, landing on top of the Bot’s body. “Come ooon! You can’t keep a girl waiting!”

  Sage tore on ahead of me, gracefully pirouetting through the shield of fire. Giving one last rightfully deserved decapitation to an incoming Bot, I followed Sage’s lead, passing through the fiery safety net as though it was water.

  The Encryptors were filing down into the underground tunnel, desperate for cover. I nearly followed, but a good look at Mabel stopped me. Fires belonging to all colors and origins were dancing around us, a gaudy but entrancing sight while the world around us crumbled. But inside, we were safe—and Mabel’s stance proved that she was not going anywhere.

  Another blast struck the sphere. It absorbed the brunt of the impact, though the earth still tremored and threatened to give way. Mabel groaned, her veins pumping and arms red as she held up the shield that gained both weight and power with each additional attack that it swallowed. Her hair was on fire, shooting up and joining with the barrier to help keep it aloft, but it was clear that she was straining herself.

  And it pissed—me—off.

  “Why do you keep trying to be the hero?! We’re here! Now back off and get your scrawny ass to safety!”

  “No!” she growled. “Not… Until… All that can… Make it through!”

  I was downright flustered, searching for what twat we were still waiting on.

  Two Encryptors—one hobbling their way forward and the other protecting the injured, tearing apart whoever drew close enough with their sword. I didn’t even know their faces—certainly not their names! They were nobody important! “Oh, for fuck’s sake, leave them!”

  “Just go!” she yelled back, remaining firm in her position.

  “Not until you grow some and learn when it’s time to back down!”

  The aircraft shot another laser beam. This time, Mabel swayed on her feet, though she still did not fall—but her shortcoming was just enough to let two Bots plow right through the shield.

  I should have let her get eaten for being so damn stupid, but instead, I hopped in front of her, grabbing the first Bot by the skull and ripping their head off before chucking it into the second’s gut, throwing them straight into the fire and watching them burn.

  “Thanks…” she panted.

  I was too infuriated to accept it. She was so stupid! Her face looked like a tomato, freshly steamed with its skin about to burst open; she was clearly on the verge of blowing up, but nooo, she just had to be the bigger person here! “I don’t want your thanks! I want you to run!”

  She snarled defiantly. “Eero… Would have never run… And neither will I!”

  I grabbed her at the waist, ready to break her legs off if I had to. “YOU LEAKY FEMALE! Learn that—!”

  “BUT THEY’RE ALMOST HERE!”

  Her desperation took me back, especially when she looked into my eyes, and I saw the steaming tears oozing down her face, washing away layers of hard-earned blood. “Please! If you have any sense of compassion, let me get them through!”

  I didn’t know what it was with this girl! I wanted t
o kill her one second and protect her the next, but that pleading gaze… The pain… It radiated through my bones and melted my insides, drowning me with guilt. A chip not on my shoulder but heart crumbled, and even as Earth roared once more, the sphere fluctuating and Mabel’s hands becoming shakier, I did not take her away. She would have never forgiven me, and for some reason unbeknownst to me, I needed that trust…

  Ah, fuck it. I might have needed it, but I wasn’t going to get it.

  I snatched her up and threw her over my shoulder, running toward the tunnel and never looking back. I could hardly feel her punching my back—I was too set on getting out to process anything besides the sounds of Bots tearing after us as the shield vanished.

  A burning light engulfed me. The air suddenly sucked in before violently rushing forward in a scalding mass of heat, launching me straight into the tunnel on my stomach. Everything felt like it was giving way, and in the darkness, still clutching Mabel’s spine and legs, I scrambled to face the tunnel’s entrance, watching the building above fall and form a concrete barricade between the enemy and us.

  There was a cold fire in my throat; it burned of ice staring at the blood oozing from the concrete while I processed just how close I had come to meeting my ultimate end—all because that girl was so stubborn!

  The surviving members of the Encryption were panting, desperately trying to rebuild their busted hearts while throwing encouraging, gracious smiles our way. Even Pinion did not look like she sniffed shit for once; there was no smile, but inked on her face was the slightest trace of approval—there most certainly should have been for the leader who took the easy way out, leaving a teenager to stand up against a whole fleet.

  “That was close…” Virgil huffed, licking some blood off his face.

  “You’re all lucky she’s stupid,” I ridiculed.

  “As are you,” Merritt agreed. “We wondered what was taking you so long, all-powerful sama.”

  I was so fed up with this whole thing. I couldn’t help but snap my teeth at the dumb nose.

  “Eero…?” Seek crept to the front, her dull aura the only thing giving light to the blocked-off tunnel. “Is Mabel…?”

  I cocked my head, confused. “What?” Dumbfounded, I relaxed my arms that kept her safe, but Mabel did not react—she wasn’t even hitting me.

  My heart skipped, especially when I looked over my shoulder, noticing just how limp her entire body was. “What—?”

  “MOVE!” Seek charged and yanked Mabel from my hold, strenuously placing her on her back. Mabel was breathing, but she was hurting—her wrinkled lips, winced eyes, and soured face made that clear.

  “What’s wrong with Maaabel?” Sage wondered.

  Seek did not answer the question that was in all our heads. She ran a glowing palm up and down Mabel’s chest, shining a holy aura through her skin and allowing us to clearly see the silhouettes of her organs and bones. I did not know what was happening, beginning to question my own part in Mabel’s sudden affliction, when Seek’s hand paused at her chest.

  Small, ethereal wisps were seeping out of Mabel’s heart, inflaming the surrounding organs. The child of fire was pouring sweat, her body clenching up as she stood somewhere on the verge of this world and the next, fighting whatever was grieving her to such extremes.

  “What is it?” Pinion asked.

  “…Her sword…” Seek concluded quietly. She beaconed the nearest Encryptor over to the sheathed weapon, who awkwardly dropped down, withdrawing the lethal blade.

  I was never able to take a good look at it because of its threatening, holy power, but that was no problem for me now—not when the blade was abundant with dark, deep crevices that damaged the sword at its core.

  Seek painfully winced. “She overdid it… Big time.”

  “B-but it’s just Maeve’s sword!” I stammered. “How does that affect Mabel? She didn’t even have it until a week ago!”

  “The Sword of Maeve is the source of Maeve’s powers,” Seek elaborated. “Maeve’s life force is long gone, but Mabel is the Receiver; half of Maeve’s soul was born into her, letting her hold such power. But the sword’s cracked… The magic’s leaking. If the sword can’t hold the flames in, neither can the body.”

  “So, it’s like another soul link?” I growled. “Like the Essence? Like you? The source of Maeve’s powers can survive without the human, but not vice versa?”

  Seek looked away, ashamed.

  There was no time for her to feel sorry—that was just the way that spirits tended to work. Links favored the survival of the spirit—not the human. They were just expendable vessels for when times got rough. Just like mine. “So how do we help her?” I asked.

  “By fixing the sworrrd!” Sage exclaimed. “By fixing the link!”

  “Can you do to her what you did to Coruscus? To Pinion?”

  Sage giggled awkwardly. “Well, nooo… This isn’t something that relies on nerves. You need to fix the link spiritually!”

  I blinked. How was I supposed to do that?

  “We can’t win without Mabel,” Pinion confirmed under her breath. “Gannon is a sorcerer; there are only so many ways to kill one, so her power is invaluable…” She looked to her side, staring at Embry. “When I did some scouting back at the base, that little shit’s workshop was raided to hell, but that’s the only place near here that I can imagine having the required tools. Justus did have some experience tinkering with Eyla, correct?”

  Embry nodded dryly—uncomfortably. “Indeed, but along the lines of magic, my confidence in his abilities are—”

  Pinion snapped her teeth. “Sorry, do you have a better idea?!”

  Embry averted her gaze. “Negative.”

  Pinion breathed a tense sigh of relief. “Good. Then take Eero and Mabel back to the Encryption base. Eero’s the only one who can fix her.”

  I didn’t know what upset me more—the fact that Mabel’s life was in my hands or that Pinion was trying to drag me away from the battlefield and, furthermore, Gannon. “Why me? What makes you think I can do it?”

  “Because you were Hell’s head forger, and this requires not only skill but knowledge on how to manipulate magic.” She reared her head and eyed Coruscus. “You’ve done it, haven’t you? A piece of her soul is in the blade; it’s no different than Coruscus.”

  “But mine isn’t a life or death—”

  Her eyes ignited green as a warning. “Just shut up and do it.”

  I snorted, looking back at Mabel. Her eyes were open a sliver, painfully staring at me, but she could not get any words out. I was not the same: “I told you to run.”

  Her expression changed only a hair, her agonizing frown bending even further.

  “We will continue to close in on the palace as planned,” Pinion decided. “With only three of you, hopefully, it will be easy enough for you to sneak through Aphrite as we divert the attention… But hurry back ASAP. We cannot wait; the plan is already in full swing.”

  “Of course, ma’am.” Embry bowed before leaning down and gently prodding my shoulder. “Come, we mustn’t take Time lightly.”

  I didn’t want to do it; I really didn’t. Really, I needed to get this brat off my back anyway, so I should have just be rid of the second pest while I had the chance.

  But against what my venomous thoughts wanted, I hoisted her into my arms and ventured off down the tunnel with the rest of the Encryption in search of an exit. Mabel’s beading eyes focused on me at all times; it made my heart feel mushy, my very composure slacking the longer we walked. I hated her, and yet, no matter how many opportunities I had met with thus far to get it over with, I couldn’t kill her—I had too many memories that weren’t mine, and they were too real to blatantly ignore.

  Already, I lacked purpose, true purpose—I had for thousands of years—and with such vivid pictures twirling in my head of her dancing, smiling, and laughing with the boy who used to inhabit this body, I found it nearly impossible to permanently extinguish those flames.

  Eero
may have been pathetic… Foolish and weak… But the boy Azuré named after me truly had something besides himself to fight for, and for that sole reason, no matter how much I hated him, wanted all of this over and done with, I envied him.

  Because he found a purpose within the darkness, and that was something I still couldn’t figure out.

  Twenty-three

  Stairway to Hell

  Two days by foot… Two long, exhausting, sweltering days romping through melting sand and scorched earth, all to complete a task that she had no desire to take on in the first place.

  Toboé could hardly stay on his feet, loosely holding onto Tah by her sleeve to keep himself moving. That was something that Tah did not consider when she chose to take him along; even being a fairly mature ten-year-old, he was no different from any other youngster when exhausted, proudly voicing each and every complaint that came to him. Thankfully, he was so tired that he no longer bothered to waste precious energy protesting; instead, he submitted to hanging his head and trudging on as a mute.

  Briefly lifting her white headdress to wipe away a waterfall of sweat, Tah sighed, taking a thirsty swig from her water pouch. There wasn’t much left, perhaps a mouthful, but it was so hot. The rays were relentless, never giving them so much as a puny cloud for all their hard work; the sun only knew how to make them suffer, and suffer they did.

  For Mother, Tah encouraged herself. Never mind Father, think of Mother. She needs that medicine…

  Toboé groaned obnoxiously to break his silence. “How much fartheeerrr?”

  “Hopefully not much… I am just as tired, you know.”

  “Yeahhh, but you are a girl. Who cares?”

  She puckered her lips to keep herself from saying something severely unholy. She didn’t think that it would change while she saw the light of day, but she could only hope that one day females would be valued for their minds instead of bodies. As much as she tried to be optimistic, seeing such twisted morals in a boy as young as Toboé—who was by far the most open-minded person in her tribe besides herself—certainly sent a shiver down her thin, protruding spine.