All of the mirage weren’t dead. There were still creatures in the forest that saw what the twins had done to save them. For love and honor, they sacrificed themselves in an effort to repay an irredeemable debt.
But it wasn’t enough.
Freyr rocked back and forth on the wire in an attempt to build momentum. Seconds later, he lunged forward and shot himself to the nearest ring. His left arm stretched out while his right held on to his sister. Right as his finger brushed the wooden ring, it crumbled to dust. All of the ropes snapped and fell to the floor, where the marionettes now lay lifeless.
The image reel shattered and vanished. Avia gulped as the truth of that day became clear—Freyr and Freya had lost the battle.
The siblings began their descent. As they fell, a loud, thundering beat echoed like syncopated gusts of wind.
Woosh. Woosh. Woosh.
Avia darted her eyes around the room but didn’t see anything. The music had slowed, but the dark presence in the room had amplified. Her stomach lurched and bile burned the back of her throat. The Mark on her arm now scorched like a hot iron, and the orange tint from her “dragon eyes” flared a deep red.
In the gods’ descent, she could now see black cords around their limbs as well. There were no smiles at this part of the act. Their eyes were glossed and calm. But in her current state, Avia could clearly see the truth. Behind red eyes was raw, frothing rage. It was the type of rage that could have only been kindled by time.
The whoosh was now an ear-splitting thunder, but the air in the tent stayed still. Avia covered her ears in an attempt to quiet the roar, but it only amplified.
A cannon of dark energy struck her chest, and she rolled from her seat like a rag doll. A booming crack exploded on all sides. The back wall of the tent tore and stone crumbled through the hole. Darkness like living shadows bled through the crack as a giant creature dove through the opening. Its grey skin was scarred where eyes should have been. Its enormous mouth was lined with thousands of tiny, sharp teeth. Its body was nearly the size of the ring itself; each wing could have easily supported the weight of the elephants that had just been on stage.
Before she could even process what her body was doing, Avia was leaping from the stands. Fire blasted from her palms as she hurled herself at the beast. Reeling back, she formed a gauntlet of magma and slashed at the creature as hard as she could. The claws of the gauntlet sank into flesh.
The monster shrieked before thrashing and writhing in the air. Avia fought to hold on but was flung from its back like an insect. Her skull crashed against the stone aisle of the bleachers. Colors and shapes swam across her vision, and for the briefest moment, she longed for the clarity that only a line of blow provided.
Another shriek brought her back to the circus. Fire licked her skin as the flames pulled her back to her feet. The darkness in the room was like kerosene. It poured in gallons, drenching her body until she could barely stand.
The creature had already forgotten about her. Its massive form had turned around and was hovering above the opposite side of the tent. Avia took a step but nearly fell back as a heat wave blasted from her core. She gritted her teeth against the power and waited for it to pass. Her gaze shot back at the monster. It hadn’t moved. It was just staring at the crowd.
Avia forced another step, but nausea and dizziness made her pause. She waited for the wave to pass. Her flames had never reached that magnitude. Controlling magic was harder on Earth than in the aether, but an hour ago, she had managed it just fine. But this?
She bit back against the energy and started running. She closed her eyes and felt for the next wave before it burst. She channeled the energy through her body before it could explode outward. It was like a song. The notes rang loudly, and if she didn’t lean in at the right moment, the entire arrangement would break to pieces.
Avia’s eyes darted to the bodies of Freyr and Freya lying in the rubble below. In the back of her mind, she knew that this wasn’t her power. She was feeding off of the rage of betrayed gods. A rage and heat that could have only been kindled by time.
She reached the monster and froze. Instead of arms or legs, there was only a sea of whipping tentacles that spewed from the back of its body. It had the build of a sea monster. Unfortunately, natural selection hadn’t been content to kill it off on the ocean floor. Instead, evolution had granted it barbed tentacles, bat-like wings, and killing intent.
Avia braced for an attack, but it wasn’t doing anything. Still… The audience across from the creature looked wrong. Their eyes were black. Their color was turning gray and if she stared long enough, she could see skin and scales turning to stone.
Clicking back into gear, Avia leapt towards the creature again. This time, it was ready. With speed that should have been impossible at its size, the monster flicked its head and sent Avia crashing into the rock perimeter. Before she could fall, it was on her again. It snapped at her with its maw of fangs. She spun and twisted before sending blast after blast of fire into its eyeless face. Soon enough, her feet found the stone wall, and she kicked off. She flew above its face and landed firmly onto its back.
The creature tried to buck her again, but she was ready. Avia smashed her fist into its skull. It howled in pain, but she gripped harder. With her left hand, she threw lava across the base of its wings. The tendons and bones holding them together quickly melted. Without any way to stay in flight, the creature crashed head-first into the center of the ring.
Avia pulled her hand from the creature’s skull and stumbled onto the ground. The darkness still throbbed around her, but she was too exhausted to even process it. She looked back at the already ossifying magma that had splattered onto the creature and ground. What was left of the demon was soon locked into black rock.
Pain exploded in her arm and she clutched the Mark like a vice. A tingling sensation ran across her body. She looked down to see her black and hardened skin healing over with soft flesh. The world was still bathed in an orange hue, but she was positive that the “dragon eyes” were also gone.
“Avia!” She looked up to see Paris running down one of the aisles. Her human veil was gone as well. It wasn’t long before Gemini stood beside her, frantically taking in the destroyed tent.
“What just happened?” Paris asked
“I don’t know,” Avia mumbled, looking back at the corpse. Black ichor oozed from the cracks of hardened magma in its head. Its grey skin had lost its slick membrane. In death, the thing now looked more like a dried-out fossil.
“Wait,” Castor muttered. Paris stepped past Avia and ran her hand along the body. “It’s rock.”
“Of course, it’s rock, you stupid bitch!” Avia spun to see Freyr standing leerily behind them. His jaw was uncomfortably crooked. His right leg was twisted the wrong way. A hole in his ribcage revealed a black, beating heart. He half-stomped, half-dragged himself over to them, resetting bones and putting himself together as best he could. “You ruined everything! Do you know how difficult it was to get Lord Hades to lend us a gargoyle for this show?! It was going just like we rehearsed! We fall. It swallows us. Blackout. We reappear in a final flip. Bows! Applause! ‘Encore! Encore!’”
Freya stomped out of the smoke to stand behind her brother, black eyes squinted in loathing. She was in significantly better shape. Well, better was a relative term. She had fallen at least three stories and was missing most of her arms.
“And you!” She stuck an accusing stump at Avia. “You’re not even a dragon! You probably weren’t even hired for hair and makeup, were you?!”
“Paris isn’t the only stupid bitch if you’re just figuring that one out…” Avia mumbled, moreso to herself than to Freya. She was still disoriented from the energy she had just channeled. Looking back at the dead creature, she realized it did look a bit… gargoyle-esque. She’d never seen anything like it, but if she tilted her head at a certain angle, she could imagine it posted atop an old church somewhere in Europe.
“Are you even listening?
!”
Dazed, Avia turned her head to see Freya inches from her face. She hated people this close. She raised a hand to set the woman on fire, but another sharp stab from the Mark liquified her stance.
There was a loud pop and everything went silent. The aether, less distorted than before, washed over her. Avia could still read most of the obscenities spewed from Freya’s mute lips. But now, she could see the Freya behind the performer. The red irises and black sclera were gone. Staring at her, instead, was the clearest blue that Avia had ever seen. But those eyes were also the saddest. The goddess was chained by marionette strings behind the rotting veil of a trapeze artist.
“My, my, what a mess we have.”
The return of sound snapped Avia out of the vision. The ringmaster was curiously looking at Freyr and Freya, and then to Avia and Paris. He glanced around the destroyed ring until his gaze fell on the dead gargoyle. He sighed.
“I’m going to kill them!” Freya lunged at Avia, but was caught midair by two of the wooden soldiers from earlier.
“I understand your sentiment, Freya,” the ringmaster said, resting a cold glare over the intruders. “But I don’t think that will be appropriate.”
“Why not?” a relatively put back together Freyr demanded. “We’ve spent three years preparing for this!”
“Yes,” the carnie answered tersely. He twisted his thick mustache then adjusted the top hat. “But we were told that there may be unexpected guests.”
Freyr stopped fighting and stuck out his lip. “‘And whatever happens, we should let them go,’” he mumbled, quoting what had to have been some higher authority.
“Eyr.” Paris stepped towards him, then took Castor’s form. The ringmaster raised an eyebrow in surprise, but Freyr made no movement. “Eyr,” Castor repeated. “It’s me.” He reached out a hand, but was violently swatted away.
“Don’t touch me, Celestial.” Freyr crossed his arms and looked away.
Freya shrugged off her captors. “You’ve ruined one of our biggest shows yet! Do you know how this will affect stocks and ticket sales?”
“Be serious!” Castor pleaded. “You two were gods, then rulers of the Northern Kingdom. You’re content dressing in stupid costumes and dancing on ropes?” His expression flattened and he stared at them both in the eyes. “What happened in that forest?”
Freyr scoffed. “Nothing your daft mind could understand.”
Avia shivered. She stared at both sets of twins and felt a twitch in the aether. She closed her eyes and saw the real Freyr as well. He too was suspended by tiny strings in the dark cell of his mind. There was no life in his blue eyes. Only regret.
“Here’s what’s going to happen.” Everyone turned to face the ringmaster. Avia could feel the fire in her chest begin to reignite, but she was still too tired to battle head-on. Besides… She glanced up at the bleachers to see thousands of eyes glaring down. Selkie, Atlantean, dragon, lycan… If she and Gemini tried to fight, it would probably end up far more unbalanced than a three-on-two. Avia grit her teeth and breathed out a huff of smoke.
“What do you want?” she growled.
“We’ve been instructed not to harm you. However, that still leaves the problem of them.” He motioned to the angry audience. “At this rate, you’ll be torn apart before you even find an exit.”
“So, what do you suggest?” Paris asked as Castor looked over the crowd.
“Nothing too elaborate. I’ll snap my fingers and you’ll return to your hotel. I’ll snap them again and the audience will forget about your little hoopla. In their minds, the gargoyle entered the tent, went out of control, and then collapsed. It will still hurt our ratings, but it’s better than the alternative."
“A spell of that magnitude is impossible!” Castor exclaimed, motioning around them. “There are what, 10,000 people here?!”
“4, 671,” the ringmaster said patiently. “Now, if you’ll excuse us.”
An invisible wave pushed past Avia and she struggled to keep her balance. Her gaze shot behind the ringmaster. The darkness in the aether hadn’t gone away, but focused to one point. It wasn’t visible, but she felt as though she could reach out and touch it. It had never been that strong before. The Mark on her arm pulsed and she finally understood. She locked eyes with the ringmaster, who simply raised the corner of his lip in a knowing grin. Before either of them could move, an icy gale tore through the room.
Please. Be quiet.
Everyone stilled. Avia was thankful she wasn’t the only one who heard the hoarse whisper. The ringmaster paled and began babbling, frantically waving in placation. Then he melted. Just like the clowns, he was no more than a puddle. Avia turned to the Norse twins only to see them blow away into dust.
“Castor!” She whipped around for Gemini and reached for their hand. They lunged toward her but burst into ash the second their fingers met hers.
Avia spun in a tight circle and stared in horror. The world was melting, and breaking, and shattering into a million pieces. From her peripheral, she could see the black past the falling shards. She tried to step towards the shadow, but was knocked prostrate onto the ground. She couldn’t control the flames anymore. Power pumped and surged through every vein and overflowed every cavity. She choked on the smoke and fought to look up. Most of the circus was gone. All that was left was the dirt patch she was lying on and a few sections of bleachers.
Something like a soft breeze blew over her. Squinting against the cacophony of carnage, she saw it. The same shadow from before now stood silhouetted against the encroaching darkness. It was shapeless; but if she closed her eyes, she could see a humanoid form with arachnid protrusions jutting from its back.
The thing stepped closer. The fire went out. Avia gasped as oxygen rushed into her lungs and feeling returned to her limbs.
“I thought your kind were extinct,” it spoke into her mind. “Raven makes dreamwalkers on occasion, but a natural born is rare.”
“You’re a demon,” Avia said quietly. Something like fear fought to grip her heart but it couldn’t latch on. They were in the nothing. The void. She glanced around the surrounding blackness before turning back to the shape. She couldn’t feel fear in this place. She couldn’t feel anything.
“I don’t need this anymore,” it said. “Would you give this to Michael?”
Avia felt a weight in her hands and looked down. It was a large book, the cover rough and black with specks of gold. The pages were yellow and wrinkled but seemed well-maintained overall.
When she looked up, the demon was gone. Seconds passed but the silence didn’t break. She lifted the cover of the book, and the Mark on her arm throbbed. A heartbeat later came a spark. It was followed by another, then another, until the fiery chains of the stone gate loomed above. It was the same gate that had appeared in Le Ciel. The gate that barred her from the Spirit World.
Avia was surrounded by darkness, yet was still in the circus. Behind her was the void, and behind that, her body. The imploding world had been a hallucination. The circus was still standing, but there was so much noise. Everyone was screaming. Flames poured from her physical body and lit the tent on fire. Patrons shrieked and ran for nonexistent exits. The ringmaster coughed on smoke before a fiery support beam crashed on top of him. Gemini was frantically yelling at the Sin of Wrath’s empty vessel and also at one another. Freya and Freyr were no more than charred corpses.
Turning back to the gate, Avia, in her spirit, stepped forward. Her physical body advanced past Gemini. She reached out and brushed her fingers against the door’s massive central lock. To her surprise, instead of throwing her back, the lock and chains disintegrated. A shimmering tunnel of white appeared before her spirit. An identical passage opened in the corporal world. Avia stepped over the threshold, and both worlds snuffed out like a candle.
Chapter 24
Val carefully took in the study. She had closed her eyes as the darkness washed over. When she opened them again, she was lying on a plush rug before a blazing firepla
ce. Small torches hung along stone walls in emerald sconces. Her first thought was fire hazard. Numerous bookshelves lined the room, and the floor was paneled wood. However, as she craned to see the arched ceiling, she saw that runes pulsed within the stone. Spells of protection; spells of silence.
She passed the sofa to the massive double doors, but found them locked. Turning back, her eye caught on a bust stationed beside the frame. It was a man’s head, equipped with a sharp goatee and indifferent eyes. Something about the figure sent a shudder through her. She crossed back to the hearth.
Her gaze fell on the crystal globes stationed across the mantle. They were identical to the cyclops’ eyes. Everything in her screamed to pull away, but she couldn’t. A deep, alluring sensation tugged her near. The first orb did nothing. She touched it again and was met only with cold glass. Disappointment and relief filled her lungs, but she couldn’t stop. She moved towards the second globe.
Colors swirled in the center of the sphere until an image took shape. The picture was of a mountain. Scaffolding and construction materials jutted from the rock far past what Val could see from her angle. She squinted into the glass in effort to see more of the structure, but the image didn’t move. When she finally pulled her hand away, the scene vanished.
Creasing her mouth, she tapped the next ball and gasped. A girl, maybe sixteen, kneeled on a tiny stage in nothing more than her underwear and a leather collar. Beside her, a man in a dark suit gripped a leash. Rows of formally dressed men and women held numbered signs across their laps.
The man tugged the leash and the girl stumbled into better lighting. Val’s throat went dry at the sight of them. Wings. Beautiful, iridescent wings like those of a butterfly. The man holding the leash said something to the crowd. The signs began to shoot up.
Val stumbled back from the mantle and the picture disappeared.
When We Were Still Human Page 26
