“And you, Sabree.”
“Sounds better than et tu, Sabree.” The unlikelihood of not reaching his dream of returning to the portal universe had shattered his faith in Brian’s abilities. Betrayed his friend because of this mistrust. However, Brian forgave him. Even if he failed today, Sabree had vowed never to betray him again.
“So over that.” Brian dug in his sporran to fetch the recorder stone that glinted bright orange.
“Did the Caderen have a yard sale that I missed?” Although Sabree had seen the orange topaz before, he cracked a joke about how Brian’s magnetic demeanor adopted every stone that came along. Anything to stay off topic, keep his hearts from breaking.
“Sabree 2.0 missed seeing me pocket it.” Brian winked.
Unlike his future defective counterpart, Sabree doubted his version, 3.0, would have missed the theft. “What’s recorded on it?”
“Our time together before the world ended. In case I don’t make it back, this should help you understand why I sacrificed everything, including our friendship to start over. But it didn’t have to end that way. I kept begging them to come with me to another planet.”
“But we,” Ariane said, squeezing Sabree’s hand, “refused to go.”
“Sounds like they were both broken.” Sabree swallowed hard against the lump that took residence inside his throat. He took the stone and placed it between their hands. “We’re ready.”
Embraced for another onslaught of memories, Sabree relaxed when the scene played out as a miniature hologram projected in his mind. Voices whispered telepathically. At first, he thought the playback was shoddy workmanship because the visual quivered. Then the ground trembled. Brian and their future counterparts touched the stone as the neon green horizon enflamed into an inferno. “No way. Not now.” The bitterness in Brian’s voice rang loud. “The show must go on.” He embraced Sabree and Ariane.
Her voice held deep sorrow. “See, you finally changed things up,” Ariane whispered in her brother’s mind. “You’ll make it right this time, dear brother. I’ll send you off with my love.”
“Mine too,” Brian’s voice replied.
Then Sabree heard himself say, “Our friendship has no end and will transcend when you return to the beginning. I know myself, so there is nothing you can do to jeopardize our renewed friendship. Well just about nothing. Take care, dearest friend.”
“I will never forget this moment, as it will forever guide me in the future past. I love you both.” Brian’s voice faded along with the image.
The bond between future Sabree and Brian showed in their expressions as they spoke. Sabree promised that as Brian’s first in command, he would forge a stronger relationship between them. No brokenness would cloud their forthcoming bond. However, all of this depended on sweet victory.
“Sabree, please take care of my sister and your son if I should fail.”
“You’ll be victorious. I’m Team Brian. I don’t side with losers.” He spoke the same term the future Sabree had used. It fit the moment and also signaled Ariane. Together, they pulled off their shirts to reveal matching Team Brian tees. His friend’s laughter heightened Sabree’s spirits. “One should never venture into battle under duress. Nor should one leave without a toast.”
“I need my wits about me.”
“No Scotsman worth his spit would refuse a shot of fifty-year old single malt.” Sabree handed out three shots already poured. He raised his glass. “I’m going to share something with you about my past. My friend Will said it best in his play Macbeth, which also took place in Scotland. ‘Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell.’ Claimed he wrote those words about me.”
“You and Shakespeare were best buds?” Brian shot him a questionable glance. Ariane mimicked her brother’s upturned lip and raised brows.
“Of course, but some wise time-traveler once told me that humans make for fleeting friendships. Will may have written those words about me, but only because he never met you. You, my friend, are the brightest of us all. To victory!” The whiskey warmed him, but not as much as the gratitude shining in Brian’s eyes.
40
Bring you’re a Game
S treaks of red, pink, and orange painted the early morning horizon, creating a splendid backdrop for the orange ball as it rose. Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky in the morning, sailor take warning. Should the vivid sky be considered a bad omen not to launch into battle today? Bad or not, would this be my final moment on Earth? The last sunrise I’d ever witness on Salisbury Crags?
Dressed in the Scottish warrior regalia, my eyes smudged with black powder just as Tim E. Traveler had done. Every item on the to-do list had been crossed off, the loose ends sorted out. The time had arrived, now or never, although never was not an option. Too many souls depended on me to defeat aThorsis and take his place: friends, family, the Fallen, Malakhim and the Lighted Ones. Some of whom I left behind earlier. I was battle ready
The farewell shared with Ariane and Sabree ranked second hardest: a sister’s warm embrace, a tender kiss on her forehead, Sabree’s bear hug, no kisses, and tears shed. Sure, I’d see them often with Sabree as the commander of my Malakhim legion, and my sister by his side as his one true love. But only if I defeated aThorsis. No ifs. Think positive. Tim E. Traveler was proof that I had won one way or another.
The toughest good-bye went to my son. An awkward mess. Two dudes trying not to get too emotional, slapping each other’s shoulders like we’d see each other tomorrow. Neither of us broke down, until I promised to deliver Zoeree as my first Lighted task and then when I left him behind. The tears spilled freely. I think he sensed my emotional outpour, because the telepathic hug he sent warmed me all over. How could I not be ready with all of the love and support on Team Brian?
One last glance at the to-do list, every item crossed off including a few last-minute tasks, left no excuse to stall any longer. Ariane wore the amulet but would not need it after I lifted the exile and returned everyone’s wings. I exchanged Sabree’s loose-fitting ring with a celestial bloodstone he could take with him into the portal. A calling card for when he needed to chat. For our mother, the star locket I had gifted Ariane now hung on her grave. Lastly, I packed the bloodstone ring and pocket watch inside the carry-all stone to keep with me.
The crumpled list balanced like a trophy on my opened palm. The pressure behind my eyes burned until a thin beam shot out and set it on fire. The list incinerated as it hovered inches above my hand. The ashes blew in the wind.
“Time to go, Brian,” Tim said behind me. “Remember to use your mind, but your heart foremost. Bring your A game. You can do this…we both did.”
His voice, my own, surprised me more than his sudden appearance. We mirrored each other dressed in our Scottish gear. “Ready. I won’t disappoint—” As he had done once before, Tim slammed into and fused with my body until we became one being. Our minds converged, both stoked to hammer aThorsis into the netherworld. No longer seeing through each other’s eyes, our vision fused as one, focused on the scenic grandeur below.
The lump in my throat caught as I gazed upon Scotland one last time and while humanity reigned inside me. A single tear spilled for bonnie Scotland and another for Earth as my body shed its skin. Brilliant rays of gold, azure, and neon orange radiated outward in competition with the sun. Each stone, including the Zuni wolf, flew out of the carry-all and settled into an orbit around my luminosity. The cerulean gem Lighted One aMichael had gifted me revolved nearest my center. The moonstone that housed White Ghost and Zoeree glittered like a diamond caught under the glow of candlelight. My personal constellation aligned, spinning, eager to enter the Lighted Realm, the radiance that was me blasted outward. The solitary point of light extinguished as if a whispered breath snuffed it out.
The familiar heavens replaced Scotland. The cobalt sky and stars glittered brighter than usual as if they, too, suspected a new day, a battle won. On impulse, entrance into the Lighted Realm instinctively set my mind int
o juggle mode. The onslaught of images, time zones, and information settled as though second nature. This meant one thing—I was primed to confront aThorsis, defeat him, and begin my new life as a Lighted One. Bring it on.
The corrupt Lighted One ranked high as an enemy to all, which left two choices. Let the biggest and baddest Dark One swallow aThorsis whole and condemn him to an eternity of darkness equal to his soul. Or make him a Dark One—he had pretty much done that on his own. The latter might be dangerous on the likelihood that his malevolent spirit would still endanger the universes. Unhinged, equipped with the free will of a Dark One, might gift him enough destructive power to swallow galaxies, planets, and legions of Malakhim. Put simply, aThorsis would still be a pain in everyone’s ass.
Time stood still. For me at least, so light and all, I drifted amongst the stars, the realm infinite. No other being made an appearance, not even aAriel. Dread of what was to come consumed me. How much time had passed? How far did I drift? Earth could be a dust ball by now.
Thunder rumbled in answer to my doubts. The battle had begun.
Trumpets blared. At least my interpretation of the racket. The horn blasts thundered, filling the peaceful heavens with rhythmic sonic booms. My drifting color seized.
Thrum drum, thrum drum, thrum drum.
The thunderous heartbeat thumped. A gigantic beat by the loudness, the decibels reaching the endless boundaries of the Lighted Realm. My eardrums, never mind my innards, would have exploded if I had a physical body. Was it aThorsis?
Thrum drum, thrum drum.
Zeroing in on the sound that increased in intensity, I slowed as a murky redness seeped from the horizon expanse. If distance could be measured, he had spread himself over thousands of miles. Stretched lengthwise across the entire horizon as far as my mind could detect. So the bastard spread himself thin, made like a noisy blowhole. I refused to let the exploited size and noise intimidate me while keeping my cockiness in check.
Thrum drum…
Let there be light—my light. The one-liner seemed appropriate as a pre-battle speech, both short and sweet. Tendrils of amber light reached out in every direction and dimension. Expanded beyond infinity. Golden rays shot forth, stretching fingers of brilliance light years across the realm. As gold grappled red, sparks spewed from the breach. Crimson bolts battled amber. Annihilating shockwaves exploded every time an antiparticle collided with celestial elements. The explosive breaches thundered over the thrumming beat. The entire realm quaked. Stars dimmed and then brightened, contingent on whether the gold rays smothered the red or vice-versa.
The battle between opposing colors ended with an ultimate blaze. The blast radiated for infinity until it reached the point of no return and then imploded, collapsing within itself. A pinprick of gold sparked before it extinguished itself. The cobalt backdrop and stars twinkled on as though nothing had happened. But something did happen. Evidence shone bright as an onslaught of antiparticles zoomed across the heavens equal to the radiance of millions of shooting stars. Their glow illuminated and then dimmed as the ripple slowed and swerved to return to ground zero.
The golden hues that fashioned me irradiated until minimalized to normal size. The stones resumed their orbits. Antiparticles sizzled with activity yet to come. “How do you like me now,” my thoughts thundered to aThorsis. “Your fault. You created this chaos of humanity, antiparticles, light, and bloody stones.” In actuality, what transpired during the explosive mergence might forever remain a mystery. I refused to accept that. Knowledge was power.
No answer.
Did I wound aThorsis? Destroy him? Too easy. No way did the wee fireworks destroy one so powerful and ever-lasting. Maybe the anti-power scared him off. I had more where that came from. Heaps of it. This had to end here and now. Patience must win over cowardice.
Time passed, and again, how much that crept along in oblivious solitude endured for what struck me as eternally. When reigned as the new Timekeeper, maybe I’d learn how to tell time in this realm. Why waste the moments granted? The calm before the next attack gave me amble opportunity to absorb infinite energy from the stars. My rays radiated brighter than ever.
“If I had eyes, you’d blind me.”
“aAriel.” The lavender light hovered nearby, farther than usual. Did she fear me?
“I’m cautious in nature. After that last burnout, you might ignite at the slightest spark.” Her lavender hues luminated as if she giggled.
Again, my interpretation from Earth’s small boundaries made me believe the Lighted Ones harbored similar emotions. I’d discover the truth soon enough. “Not sure if I did any damage.”
“Yes, you did.” Swirls of purple hues orbited around her central core of stars. “aThorsis had summoned his Malakhim legion. Not all came, but enough to increase his power tenfold. He should have bested you.”
Cheat, cheat, never beat. My humanity excelled again. Uncertain what went right, I asked, “Do you know what happened?”
“A secret ingredient empowered you. Anti and positive particles exist as one within your core. Unheard of until aThorsis created such an entity—you. The only weapon that can defeat him.”
“That’s it!” Antimatter and matter combined annihilated, canceled each other out. Neutralized all. The anti-ness aThorsis had condemned Turian with, would be his undoing. And now my doing. The holy grail I had been seeking had always been hidden within me. And as light and energy, easier to express. “The second round will send aThorsis into his new home. A Dark One.”
Amber flares irradiated outward inches away from her purple swirls. aAriel shrank to the size of a dot as my color expanded. I quickly pulled away. No need to accidently absorb her. I’d never forgive myself. “Sorry, got carried away. Wish me luck.”
“No need. Luck does not exist here.”
Turbulent velocity jetted me across the realm beyond the speed of light, zipping along the border faster than a photon in a particle accelerator. The stars no longer twinkled. Swiftness imprisoned time. Froze it. Sped up until I, too, stood still inflight, catching up to myself before falling into the next orbit. In reality, the realm shrunk in size as rampant velocity shot me across uncharted magnitudes. Seven Lighted Ones drifted nearby, none of them from the higher echelon.
The drawn-out search had come to an end.
aThorsis. The telltale red blob hovered on the realm’s edge, ready to slip into a lesser zone if I discovered him. However, at this speed, the one Tim E. Traveler used to outwit the snake, would prevent him from detecting my furious approach. Almost touching, my velocity dropped at once, assured my light would materialize from out of nowhere. “Gotcha!” I hovered overhead to inspect the muddy cast he emitted. “Wounded?”
The murky soup dimmed to a pinkish sludge in answer. “You win,” aThorsis uttered. “Let us join forces. Conquer the Lighted Realm and rule side by side.”
My hue glittered like a disco ball, the laughter in my mind unleashed. Then the gaiety passed. “You’re serious?”
“Very,” aThorsis gasped as he fought against his light from dimming further.
“Sorry, but I want nothing to do with you. Let’s finish this.”
“I am finished.”
“Then I’ll escort you to your new home—a Dark One.” That threat must have jump-started what little fight he had left. The red bulged outward like a balloon as if a giant had inflated it with a colossal breath. Before I could back away, the redness smothered my amber. The golden glow dimmed with each exhaled gasp, constricted as the air left my being.
Not air but life itself! The red smothered my being as the final breath, every molecule of life was exhaled outward and beyond. Way beyond the point where every spec of existence flowed through the smallest capillary, siphoned out into the vast oblivion. A crushing numbness engulfed all until my celestial being collapsed within itself, leaving in its wake a murky abyss graver than a Dark One. The blood-red mud absorbed my extinguished light as if it were a black hole. Consumed my entirety.
&nbs
p; Desperate pleas screamed soundlessly for help. I had no right, caught off guard again by overconfidence. Despair, hope; anguish, content; hatred, love; and then antiparticles, particles. The formula flashed like a neon sign: one could not exist without the other. Without hope, how could one comprehend despair. Without hatred, how would I recognize love. My mind radiated with insight renewed. A minute part of me, the antiparticles, fought against the all-consuming force. Without them, my light would have already been extinguished. Hope illuminated the dimness nearest my epicenter, focused on the antiparticles. If eclipsed, the battle would be over. I would no longer exist.
Every celestial element of lifeforce continued to empty from my central radiance. The dull numbness of death itself had spread forth. The spark of light released, brightened with such intensity that it glowed with an inward blackness until no more light could be absorbed. A black hole. I had become one of my own making.
Frightful thoughts that I’d end up extinguishing my own being invaded my mind, shattered all focus. Had I drifted too close to death? Had eons flashed by? Frigid numbness had taken hold. Neither alive nor dead, strong nor weak, neutralized deep within a tomb, I almost forgot the battle against my archangel father. However, this crusade went beyond petty selfishness. The universes mattered more. Family and loved ones filled me with hope. If my Lighted version died, then I’d take those memories with me.
The immense blackness continued to constrict all light except for one innermost flicker still fighting for its existence—its sparkle. That same blackness decreed the absence of color and photons of light. Which had I become? Funny how the secrets of the universes revolved around color or on the lack thereof. Of particles anti or positive. Of life and death.
The combat simmered within itself for an indeterminate amount of time. A subatomic glimmer the size of a quark was all that remained of me. I refused to give up, refused to let the red bastard snuff out my existence, refused to… No, no, no!
Archangel of the Fallen Page 31
