by J E Mueller
Danni nodded. “Well, I’ll get my pack then and see you shortly.” She vanished.
I turned to wake Lydia to find that she was already awake. She was silently taking in the parts of the conversation she could hear.
“So much for a good night's sleep,” I teased tiredly.
“At least I can feel loved and included in your plans.” She yawned and sat up. “So, what’s going on?”
I leaned against the wall and started to explain. I knew if I sat down, I was done for. I did think Danni was right, though. If we took action now, no one would expect it. “...so we should see if everyone else wants to join. Hopefully they follow us after the morning. I’m fairly certain demons wouldn’t give them as much trouble if we’re not there.”
Lydia nodded. “I’ll pack, you go relay the plan.”
“I’m pretty sure they’re not going to like it.” Not that Lee could talk based on how some of his adventures had gone. At least Key should support my idea. Hopefully. I needed some backing here.
I knocked on the room two doors over hoping to find Key. I didn’t know why I was surprised to see three doors open. Blessed were terribly nosey about everyone's business. “Fine, fine,” I muttered and waved at all of them. “Let’s all talk.”
Lee backed away from the door and everyone filed in. I shut the door behind myself and shook my head at everyone.
“To start, we’ll say Key is right and a crazy plan has come up,” I began.
Key threw an excited fist in the air. “Let’s hear it!”
“I already hate it.” Lee sighed. “What’s going on, Tella?”
“What if there was a way to vanquish and banish all demons from this plane?” I began. With everyone’s attention, I launched into the quick story. Having finished, I gave everyone a moment before adding, “So, tonight’s our best bet to leave without them knowing.”
Emmyth looked over at Key. “You’re going to be all in this, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “There are some parts that need work, but I think this world would be better off if it was left on its own. Do I even need to point out the reasons? Children’s souls being bartered with should be enough of an example.”
“I can’t.” Rosalie shook her head. “I’ve no problem accompanying you until it’s reasonable to split up, but this mission isn’t for me. Without demons, this world would be perfect. Without angels there are no miracles.”
“For once it would have to be solely on the goodness of others,” Jareth argued. “What’s wrong with expecting people to do the right thing? It needs to be better taught, not left for deities that are using us for their own means.”
“But for the better. We’re helping thousands,” Rosalie argued back.
“And either way…” I interrupted them, “it’s your choice. I won’t make you come with. I think it’s fair you know what’s going on.”
Lee sighed. “Aunty is not going to be happy if I let you do this. She already thinks you’ll never return home.”
“If the world had no demons, she might still have a husband. I would still have a father,” I replied coolly.
Lee was the only one here who knew what had happened, so everyone else watched us curiously. “You’re right,” he relented. “That would be one less family secret swept under the rug.”
“Mine isn’t the only family hurt by this. If the demons are gone, can you just imagine? People would be able to have moments of weakness and not risk being trapped by those soul stealing lifeless monsters. People could grow, recover. Right now, if you sound desperate just a few times about the same matter, your soul could be gone. And you’d be hurting so many others all at once,” I reminded them.
Sighing, Lee glanced around the room. There wasn’t room to pace, or really move, for that matter. Instead, he nodded. “You know I’m here to help.”
“Get ready to go then.” I nodded opening the door. “And thank you, cousin.”
He gave a single nod back. His eyes showed his exhaustion. “Of course.”
As I stepped out of the room, Danni was walking down the hall. I nodded at her and motioned for her to follow. Heading back into my own room, I saw Lydia was ready to go.
“How far do you think we’ll get before we need sleep?” I yawned at her, longing for another night in a proper bed.
“Not far enough,” Lydia yawned back. “But we can set up a shield to block the demons and sleep safely. If they really don’t notice us leave we should have at least a two-day head start. Hopefully, that will be enough time.”
“It’s three days away so I think so,” Danni replied from the doorway.
“Where exactly?” Lydia asked curiously. She knew these parts like the back of her hand. I wasn’t half bad at it either.
“Just south of Rayshire,” Danni replied.
“Oh, so just northwest of Kindlewood.” Lydia nodded glancing over at me. “I have an idea of where we’re going.”
“An idea.” I rolled my eyes. While she may not know the exact spot, she and I both knew the correct direction, Kindlewood being our hometown.
“Are the others coming with or following later?” Danni asked curiously.
“I can relay the location and see.” Lydia answered, moving to exit the room. She paused when she reached Danni. “What sort of world are you looking to create?” she asked her curiously.
Danni blinked, surprised, but smiled. “One where I can be free and not chased by demons for the rest of my days.”
“Fair enough.” Lydia shrugged and continued on her way.
“Is that all there is to it?” I asked curiously.
“Of course not.” Danni shrugged, “But how do you explain such a complex idea in passing?” Danni sat on the edge of the bed. “If we’re banishing the demons and angels from here, we can send them elsewhere, or force them into a more controlled environment. We can let this world continue on without them and create a new world… But how do we keep the new world in balance? In check? How do we keep them confined there?”
“Well, aren’t the angels and demons technically only a few handfuls of creatures? They’ve created their minions from souls. Maybe we should focus on the main group and let those transformed souls finish their time in their current forms and recycle them back into this world again?” I replied, thinking aloud.
“Maybe, but really to help recycle any of the spirits, a gate needs to be fixed. It seems Mist is happy to do that forever.” Danni shrugged. “Guess we still need to finish that quest too…” She trailed off, getting lost in her own thoughts.
“Everyone’s ready,” Lydia said from the doorway.
I glanced over at the few faces I could see as Lydia grabbed her pack. No one looked ready. Tiredly, I grabbed my bag as well.
“Shall we?” I asked and headed out before there were any audible replies.
23
Getting out of Reawakening was easy. There were no signs of demons or even spirits. Everything seemed to be going as planned.
And then Lliam appeared.
“What’s going on?” he asked myself and Danni as we picked our way through the woods.
“New plan, crazier goals than normal, but if this works, you’ll be free,” I replied softly.
Lliam took it in before replying. “Mist is wondering what’s going on. She can’t figure out what you’re doing.”
“Essentially, not going with her plan,” I replied honestly. “Some things need to change. She doesn’t agree. The sacrifices needed to keep things the same aren’t worth it.”
“But what are the sacrifices for change?” Lliam asked curiously.
“It’s similar, I will admit, but instead of murder in cold blood, it requires a more knowledgeable volunteer,” I replied, doing my best to make sure no one else could hear me.
Lliam nodded. “If you know what you’re getting into, that is a better option. I’m surprised Mist would keep us out of the loop about a sacrifice.”
“I doubt she would have forever, but by the time she told
you, everyone might have been angry enough to do whatever it took to end things.” It was a horrifying thought, and I was surprised it hadn't come to me sooner.
Lliam considered this. “Given enough time in any bad situation, even the best may turn. If even a handful of the Blessed that are trapped here as spirits were to go down that route, I’m sure such a thing could easily be accomplished.” He looked troubled by the thought, “When you stop for the night, call me. I want the details, and we may be able to help.” With that, he was gone.
I knew I should explain more to everyone about all the different little pieces, but I was just too tired to find the words. I shuffled closer to Lydia and leaned against her for a moment as we walked.
“There’s so much going on,” I mumbled.
“Anything new I need to know?” She yawned.
“Probably. But I’m too tired,” I admitted.
“We’ll discuss things after sleep, then.” Lydia shrugged. “It’s not like we’re getting there in the next ten minutes. There’s still time.” She looped her arm through mine.
“I like that idea. The sleep part most of all.” I yawned. “Hopefully this can work out…” I let the thought trail off. Who knew what would happen if we failed?
It was several hours later before we set up camp. The Blessed in the group made a double secure perimeter while Key and I dropped things in the middle.
“Think it’s nice enough to avoid tents?” She yawned, unpacking hers anyway.
I made a sound in response but I couldn’t even make out what it meant. I just wanted to sleep. I briefly mentioned to Danni that we should speak with Lliam before we slept.
It was rough. The second I sat down I was ready to fall asleep, but instead I forced myself to focus and got into my spirit form. I wasn’t tired here, and it was surprising to be so suddenly awake. Hopefully, my body could rest a bit without me.
I called out to Lliam, and he came right away. Danni arrived at my side just a few moments before him. Silence marked the moments as we all stared at one another. What was there to say?
“So, you’re traveling out of safety now? Got some new friends?” Lliam finally asked.
I laughed. “That is the simplest way to sum it up, I suppose.”
Danni nodded. “Yes, but we’re out of time for simple.” Without hesitating, she gave him all the details. She didn’t pause for a moment at anything and happily revealed her Creator roots as well as her idea of how to create a new realm.
“I’d be happy to help,” Lliam commented. “Can I be the bit that helps make the new realm? Does a Blessed soul count as pure?” He sounded excited about the idea.
Danni shook her head. “Sadly no. It would have to be someone among the living.”
Lliam’s shoulder slouched over. “Oh.”
“You can help in other ways, and I think you could still help with a new realm too,” Danni replied, her thoughts elsewhere.
“How?” Lliam quickly demanded.
“For the new realm, I’ll have to think about it. There are a lot of memories to sort through. For the present though, you’re a Blessed spirit. You can keep spirits from finding us at night.”
Lliam’s face lit up. “I hadn’t thought of that! Finally, I am back in the battle!” He threw a fist up triumphantly and quickly took off to the perimeter.
While he did that I glanced at Danni. “What do you think Mist will do? Can she do anything if she’s basically stuck in the spirit realm?”
“I think I finally see her game,” Danni replied softly with a mildly frightened expression.
“What’s that?” I asked. I thought we had already agreed Mist just wanted things to stay the same. There wasn’t much of a game there.
Danni took a steadying breath. “I’m unsure how she knows what I am, but I have every reason to believe she does. With me out of the way, things would go exactly according to her plan. However, if I remain in the picture, I can change things. No wonder she said to stay away. If I never tried to get back to Reawakening, I would never have tried to bring about something new.”
“If that is true, then we have a very big problem,” Lliam said as he reappeared.
“Just one?” I had to laugh. “I can think of several.”
Lliam nodded. “I can agree with that. She can easily track both of you, and if she wants to cause trouble, giving your location away won’t be difficult.”
“Is there a way to block that?” I asked, hoping there was a trick I was missing out on.
“Not that I can think of.” Danni shook her head.
Lliam shrugged. “Well, there actually might be. Mist is a spirit and is bound by spirits rules.”
I saw what he was getting at. “So, if we had a Blessed group of spirits, giving us a hand… Would they even be able to do that while moving?”
Lliam shrugged again. “I think so, we won’t know unless we try, and if we don’t try this is going to be a disaster.”
“Then the next problem is the demons as well as the angels. I doubt either would like being moved to another realm and not having their pawns,” Danni stated. “We’ll just have to avoid having the angels find out.” Danni shrugged.
“Except the Blessed with us know, and I don’t know if they’ll keep it a secret,” I grumbled, internally screaming and wondering why I was being so upfront with everyone about my plans.
“That is a problem. They’ll likely be too busy traveling with us to do anything, but after? Didn’t they say they wanted to split off and head back home?”
“We’ll have to get ahead of them then.” Lliam paced as he thought. “It’s very common when a Blessed arrives back at the Order that they debrief and go over events with the higher members of the group. Then they take time to meditate and pray. What does our time frame look like?”
“If they don’t part ways with us until we reach my home village, we stand a chance of beating them. It’s a small chance and everything would have to line up perfectly,” I replied. Nothing lines up perfectly ever. “So, basically we’re doomed.”
“We’ll have to go on ahead earlier, then,” Danni stated tiredly. “Maybe we should leave behind a message so they’d try and catch up but we’d already be heading directly toward the goal instead.”
“Or they would see we were off and decide that’s a good place to part ways,” I pointed out. If I were them, that is what I would do.
We were silent for a moment as we tried to think of alternative solutions.
“I guess they’ll just have to come with us,” Danni declared.
“How? If they want to leave, it would be terrible to stop them,” I replied.
“To be fair, while a lot of travelers know the general area of where they are going, a lot of the forest looks exactly the same. Exactly the same. If we take a slightly longer route and don’t stop at your village, how would they ever know?”
I tried to think of an argument against it, but couldn’t. “I suppose that’s the plan, then.”
Lliam nodded. “I’ll see who I can recruit without drawing attention.” With that, he was gone.
“I guess that means we can finally sleep.” I smiled at Danni. Sleep had never sounded so good.
With a nod she left, no doubt as ready as I was for all of this to end.
Afternoon came quickly. Too soon for my tastes, but we needed to create distance soon. With more than several grumbles and choice words, Lydia got me up. Key invited me along to see if we could snag some food. With her fire magic and my speed, we really didn’t need much in the way of hunting equipment, which was great since our provisions were fairly nonexistent.
“So, tell me what has been happening,” she said as soon as we were far enough away from the others. “I feel there’s a bit more going on than what’s been stated.”
“I don’t even know what to say to that.” I sighed. “There’s been a lot of just… pure horrific garbage involved in this ever since I found out that I needed to keep this gift hidden.”
“What do yo
u mean?” she asked curiously.
“I needed to keep hidden in order to avoid the demons. That didn’t work out. Then the spirits were getting upset and some started working with the demons. Overly angry and vengeful spirits can attack a human, but of course, we can’t even attack back because they’re spirits. Then the person I was supposed to be seeking out and who was supposed to help me only wanted to help me do things her way or not at all. She’ll likely try to come after us too once she realises we’re not going along with her plan.”
Key was quiet for a moment as she considered everything. “What can I do to help?” she finally asked.
“I’ve no idea. I thought it was crazy when you went up against so many demons, and here I am, taking crazy a step further.” I shook my head. Banishing them from this world wasn’t going to be easy.
Key laughed. “It was a crazy plan. I didn’t think I’d survive that fight to free Juni. I had written so many letters to explain why I did what I did in case I died.”
“That’s a great idea.” I hadn’t thought of that. Maybe I could still write Mother a letter in case this did go south. Who would give it to her, though?
Key watched my expression for a moment before commenting. “We’ll be stopping by the village. I’m sure you’ll make it there to talk with your mother.”
“About that…” I laughed. “How is your alliance with the angels?” I asked.
She eyed me curiously. “As much as the others may hate it, it is hard to see the difference between the two groups. Of course, the angels won’t steal your soul if you break a contract, but they want it nonetheless. More good is done, and I would side with them in a heartbeat over the demons, but when you break it down and get to the barebones, it is what it is.”
“Since we’re like-minded there…” I smiled and jumped into explaining our new roundabout plan. Going a longer way would not be ideal, but the plan seemed like a good idea even after sleep.
