by Sadie Anders
I wondered why.
When I thought about it, it made sense that any vampire might become obsessed with something that could not only kill them but wipe out their entire species.
As I thumbed through, I stumbled across a page with the sketch of a city. Towering spires outlined the horizon, and columns of light shone from the tops of the buildings like the beam from a lighthouse. The Illuminated City.
I traced the sketches with my fingertip. There was something so familiar about this place, and not merely because I had dreamed about it.
“I’ve been here before,” I said absentmindedly to myself.
“What do you mean, Alexis?” Uncle Julian said.
I startled. Had I spoken out loud?
“Um, I mean that I’ve dreamed about this place. When we first left Aporia. I saw a city with beams of light shining out of the tops of the buildings. A city of metal and glass and radiance.”
“You had a vision?” Raphael asked. “You didn’t mention it before.”
“I thought it was just a crazy dream. I have lots of those.”
“What happened in your vision?” Kai asked, curious but a bit aloof at the same time, like he really didn’t care to know the answer to his question but felt like he should ask anyways. He ran his fingertips across the top of the grass, caressing the blades in one direction, then the other.
“Nothing, really. The city was empty. I fell into a fountain,” I said nonchalantly.
Raphael raised an eyebrow. “Dreams, especially prophetic ones, can be difficult to decipher. To be on the safe side, though, maybe avoid standing on the edge of any fountains though, love.”
I laughed. “No problem.”
Scanning through the journal, I noticed words here and there written in that unfamiliar language throughout, with arrows pointing to corresponding sketches. I wondered why I couldn’t read them like the rest of the journal, why they were different.
“Can you read these?” I asked Raphael.
“Yes,” he said. “This one says ‘open.’ The notations must indicate spells or incantations.”
I flipped to the page with the Illuminated City.
“What about this one?”
“It says ‘reveal.’ Deiknu.”
As he said the word, it was as if a veil dropped from in front of us. A shock of disorientation and gravity. Instead of being far off in the distance, the city was suddenly a short distance away. Raphael jumped to his feet, startled by the sudden change.
“A glamour,” Uncle Julian said with wonder. “We’ve been standing at the gates all along. The type of magic required for that….” His voice trailed off, and he shook his head in disbelief.
Kai plucked a blade of golden grass from the ground, lazily twirling it through his fingers and looking off into the distance. He didn’t say anything about the sudden change, but he also didn’t seem surprised. I had the distinct feeling that Kai wasn’t telling us everything he knew about the Empyrean. Still, his secrets were his to divulge.
“Kai,” I said. “Are you ready to head into the city?”
He looked unsure. After a moment, some sort of resolve crossed his face. “I am.”
We gathered ourselves, prepared to face what was ahead, to make our entrance into the Illuminated City.
After a short walk, the city gates stood ahead of us, closed and imposing as the towering spires of the city rose behind. Raphael walked up to see them more closely.
“There are no locks,” he said, turning back to us.
“They are spelled. Without a doubt,” Uncle Julian replied. He walked up to the metal posts, running his hands across them, closing his eyes to feel them. “Their vibrations. They are unique.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“It’s as if they are breathing.”
That was weird.
No, not weird.
Terrifying.
Raphael placed his hands on them, too, wanting to feel their movement. Kai joined soon after.
Well, if everyone else was going to, so would I.
I placed both of my hands on the intricate metalwork and closed my eyes. Concentrating on the core of the structure, I let its essence seep into me, move through me. It was as if it were breathing, the parts of the whole working together to protect the city. I relaxed, letting the city know that we wished no harm to come to this place. My mind focused, and I pulled on the essence of everyone with me, pushing their intentions onto the structure.
The sound of movement roused me, and the complicated metalwork started moving and clicking, like parts of a clock going into motion. A series of locks disengaged, and the towering gates creaked open, inviting us inside.
“What did you do?” Raphael asked.
“Not much,” I said. “I merely spoke to it. Told it we weren’t here to do harm.”
“That seems to have worked,” Uncle Julian said jovially, making his way inside as we trailed behind him. “Nothing like the truth to do the trick.”
Anger flared up inside me. Who was he to lecture about the truth? He had deceived me. Had deceived Raphael, too.
Sparks flew between my fingertips and the gates slammed shut behind us. I felt like they had sensed my displeasure. I didn’t want the city to get the wrong impression, to think that I meant any ill will towards this place, so I calmed myself, willing my emotions to steady.
My anger with Uncle Julian could wait.
We proceeded forward.
The city was empty, and our feet echoed down the wide boulevard as we made our way inside. The architecture was both foreign and futuristic, with thin buildings stretching up into the stratosphere, a marriage of metal and glass. Golden light broke through the glass of the structures and dispersed like a flashlight shone into a prism. Rainbows of color descended onto the ground and the sides of buildings, casting everything in rich tints.
The Illuminated City was frighteningly similar to what I had seen in my dream before.
Alternating sounds of high and low tones sounded as the breeze worked its way through the metallic buildings, as if wind chimes of all lengths were positioned throughout the city. It reminded me of those Tibetan singing bowls that people listened to for meditation. As tense as I was about coming here, I have to say, the sounds did have a relaxing effect on me, even if they were a bit eerie resounding through an empty city.
Again, it was like the city itself were alive, but this time, it was calling out to us.
I had no idea where I was going, but I found myself leading the way, drawn in certain directions, like I had been here before. I traced the steps that I had taken in my dream, down certain boulevards, making my way into the city center.
As we turned a corner, a large square opened up in front of us, more like a private courtyard than a public gathering place.
In the center of the square stood a fountain, its water gurgling happily as it actively bubbled and splashed.
It was the fountain from my vision.
I turned excitedly to tell Raphael and the others, but they were nowhere to be seen. Still, I did not feel afraid.
A shadow, one eerily in the shape of a human, stretched across the pavement in front of the fountain, but I saw nobody there. The air around me felt charged with magic, and there was an unusual shimmer to it, like the wavy image over the horizon on a very hot day.
I approached the water’s edge and looked over. Gazing at my reflection, I saw merely myself. Plain old Alexis, not the being entirely made of light who had been in my vision. I wondered if I were going to fall into the water, like in my dream, but I did not fear doing so. I felt detached from what was happening somehow.
Ripples suddenly spread across the surface of the water, as if someone were skipping a stone. The image of my face in the water warped and broke apart, showing me nothing but waves of crystal blue water.
“Reflections are thought to be a mirror of nature, a device used to show us what is true. But I find that they can be as artificial and deceiving as anything,�
� an unfamiliar voice said next to me. “Don’t trust them.”
I snapped out of my reverie and turned abruptly to my left. On the stone edge of the fountain sat a young man, his shadow extending onto the pavement as before, only now I could see his body.
It was the young, clean-shaven man from the Kylix, the beautiful one that caught my attention when we were dancing.
Except this time, I knew who he was.
I thought of the statue in Delphi.
“Apollo,” I said.
He bowed his head slightly.
“You were at the Kylix that night.”
“I am often present where there is music and happiness.”
“So Kai tells us.”
“Kai?” he asked. “Oh, yes, that is what he calls himself in Asphodel. I’ve forgotten.”
They knew each other. Kai wasn’t merely a musician, the inheritor of Apollo’s traditions, but also someone with a personal relationship with Apollo. He could have told us that. I assumed there were reasons why he didn’t.
This beautiful being sat there quietly, a bit sad, a bit carefree. He touched the water, playing with it gently.
Here he was, the person who could help us find what what we needed, sitting right next to me. I thought it best not to beat around the bush.
“We’re looking for the Phos Eos.”
“I am aware,” he said simply, waving his index finger through the water back and forth. It reminded me of Kai lazing in the golden grass before the city gates.
“We consulted your oracle to find it.”
“And I had her send you here.”
“So, you are willing to help us?”
He didn’t answer me. A short time later, he spoke again.
“I wish that the time had not yet come for the device to leave this place.” He looked up at me, sorrow crossing his features. “But it seems that is has.”
This sad look of resignation seemed completely out of place with his features. I wanted to hug him, comfort him, tell him that everything will be okay.
But I wasn’t sure that it would. If the device were leaving the Empyrean, then there was every possibility that someday, maybe soon, it would be used.
“There are others coming for it,” I said.
He nodded. “They are nearly here.”
Panic rose up inside me. I hadn’t realized that they were so close. There was no way that I could focus on finding the device and fend off any opponents at the same time.
He raised his hand, and I felt a wave of healing calmness wash over me. “But not yet. You have time. And you have something even more important.”
“What is that?”
“A duty.”
I had no idea what he meant.
My mind reeled, and the world turned upside down. I was suddenly transported somewhere inside, a great cavernous place that felt like a dungeon. Oppressive darkness was all around, and the quiet stillness of being deep underground pervaded my body.
I wrapped my hands around the moonbeam stone hanging from my neck, willing it to shine on my surroundings. It sputtered and then began to radiate a strong white light.
I gasped. Vaulted ceilings rose above me, great stone ribs that made me feel as if I were in an old cathedral.
But it seemed more like a tomb.
I saw two tiny orbs of light dancing in the distance, and I moved towards them.
As I got closer, I could see that they were searchlights, much like my own. Realization washed over me, and I ran forward, nearly crashing into them.
Uncle Julian and Raphael.
“Where is Kai?” I asked.
Raphael shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Kai!” I called out for him, but no reply came. We searched the edges of the room, uncovering every hidden corner with our lights. Still no Kai.
We gathered in the middle of the great room once again.
“How did you get here?” I asked them.
They answered at the same time. “Apollo.”
“But I was with him. Alone. By the fountain.”
Uncle Julian looked confused. “He was speaking to me. Alone on a rooftop of the tallest building in the city. The wind was whipping furiously by us. And then I was here.”
I looked at Raphael. “We were alone, too. But it was the strangest thing. We weren’t in the city at all. We were in the sky, great spheres nested in one another, moving realm to realm, from the more earthly to the heavenly. We were flying in a chariot, chasing the dawn as we outran the night. Then, suddenly, I was here.”
How could he have done all of that at once? Have had all of those conversations?
I was in awe of his power. He had seemed so laid back when we had spoken. I thought of how his fingers traced the blue water of the fountain.
“He told me I had a duty, but he didn’t say what it was.”
Raphael looked curious. “He said something similar to me, but he said I had a destiny. I thought he was being cryptic, but when someone is hurtling through the cosmos with you, you don’t really question them.”
“What about you, Uncle Julian?”
“Oh, he didn’t say much.” I got the impression that he was holding something back. Again.
“Nothing?” I pushed further.
“Nothing that I need to share at this time.”
I couldn’t contain my anger any longer.
“Why do you always hide things?”
“What do you mean, Alexis?”
“Raphael. Why did you tell him that I didn’t want to be with him?”
A pained look of guilt crossed my uncle’s face. “I thought it was best. This man is dangerous. He’s a guardian. Guardians have no desire other than to rule and oppress. And to be honest, feed on their flock. You would see this truth some day. He is one of the tyrants, Alexis.”
I couldn’t contain my rage any longer. Sparks flew from my fingertips, launching at his chest. He fell back onto the floor, his chest smoldering and black.
17
“Uncle Julian!” I ran to him, nausea welling up within me.
What had I done?
But I knew full well. I had done the unforgivable.
I had allowed my powers to control me instead of controlling them.
And I had hurt someone incredibly important to me.
Raphael sped to his side as I sank to the ground, breaking down into a crying heap.
“He’s alive,” Raphael said. He quickly fished out a potion from his bag as I scrambled to my feet, running over to them. I knelt next to these two men, both necessary to me, holding my uncle’s head up as Raphael poured the potion into his mouth.
He remained unconscious. Smoke rose from a gaping wound in his chest.
“It’s not enough,” I said. Raphael grabbed my hand, placing his other one on my uncle’s chest. He didn’t need to tell me what to do. We moved and acted as one person. I closed my eyes, concentrating hard, willing the healing potion to patch up the broken and charred pieces of his flesh.
My uncle inhaled deeply, his eyes flying open. I looked down at his chest. The skin had knitted back together, looking red and angry, but mostly healed.
He sat up, seeming a bit disoriented.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “I’m so sorry. Uncle Julian… I…” I was at a loss for words.
Soon, he smiled at me. “It appears we all make mistakes. Please forgive me for mine.”
Throwing my arms around him tightly, I held onto him like I would never have the chance to do that again. Tears flowed down my burning cheeks.
“I’m so sorry,” I said again. “Please forgive me.”
Uncle Julian hugged me back, squeezing tightly. “Of course. But I’m quite certain we will need to resume your training when we arrive back home.” He let out a quiet chuckle, and I began laughing through my tears.
“Deal.” I definitely needed some coaching. These powers were no joke.
My uncle got to his feet, apparently feeling well enough to continue. Some of the guil
t inside me subsided. It had been an accident, but I promised myself that I wouldn’t let things go unresolved for so long the next time I was upset. It had backfired on me. Literally.
In a panic, I remembered what was happening, where we were. We had to get going. We had to find the Phos Eos before Heliodor did.
“We don’t have much time,” I said to Raphael.
He nodded. “Yes. The others are at the city gates.”
“The gates?”
“Well, they were when I was with Apollo. I assume they are even closer to the city center now.”
Oh, no. They were closer than I had thought.
My chest constricted, and I began breathing in shallow quick breaths. Raphael placed his arms around me, helping to calm me.
“Everything will be okay,” he said. “We can do this.”
I closed my eyes, leaning into his chest. His scent pervaded my senses as I tried to breathe slowly and deeply. I felt at home.
I thought of the sound of the wind snaking through the metallic structures in the city above, their ethereal bell noises bringing comfort and relaxation again.
My heart rate returned to normal.
Soon, I was ready to go.
I opened my eyes and looked up into Raphael’s. Their sapphire hue reminded me of the color of the ocean at dawn. Everything about this man was inviting to me. I didn’t see him as a predator, as a danger, as Uncle Julian had feared. My confidence in Raphael was unwavering.
I looked over to Uncle Julian. He was assessing us. “He truly cares for you,” he said simply.
Raphael turned to him and nodded. The serious look on his face told my uncle everything he needed to know. Uncle Julian nodded in reply, and I could sense that he was coming to terms with our relationship. It wasn’t like I needed his blessing, but I was aware that I had just received it.
“Apollo put us in this room for a reason,” I said to them. “There must be something here.”
I shone my light around the room, but instead of searching the ground and the corners, this time I looked up at the ceilings and walls. Great sculptures were carved out of the stone of the wall in bas relief. They looked like stories of battles and struggles. Historical tales.
