Afterworld

by Lynnette Lounsbury

  Dom smiled. ‘I was lucky then. I don’t think Damon wronged me at all.’

  She turned and gestured him to follow her towards a stone building identical to the one he had left on the other bank of the River. ‘Not all hearts respond as compassionately, Dominic. Many people look outside of themselves to find blame for their actions and their fears. Seeing that these are not the fault of another, but of ourselves, is very wise.’

  Dom didn’t know what to say. It sounded like a compliment, but he wasn’t sure he deserved it; wisdom was certainly not his most consistent trait. They reached a place in the rock where the clear shape of a doorway was carved into the smooth granite surface. There were more hieroglyphs surrounding the lintel, beautiful and intricately carved reliefs with brightly coloured paint and inlaid stones highlighting the pictures. Persephone turned to him and removed the cloth covering her face. It was the first time he had seen her face and he was startled into a frown. He knew her. From somewhere. He knew the cupid’s bow of her dark lips and the small smile lines that framed them. There was a thin, almost imperceptible scar that ran across one of her broad, olive-skinned cheekbones. He’d seen that scar before.

  If she noticed his surprise, Persephone ignored it and spoke formally. ‘Dominic Mathers, you have reached the Room of Judgement. In this room your heart will be weighed against the feather of truth. Your spirit will be judged for its purity, its truth, and your soul seen for everything that it is. If you are worthy, you may continue your journey, meet the Awe and decide the next step on your eternal journey. If you are not worthy, if the darkness and fear in your soul is too great, your heart will be consumed by the beast and you will fall into the darkness of true death.’

  ‘Does that happen often?’ he asked in mild horror. ‘What is the true death?’

  She smiled reassuringly. ‘The true death is the end of your soul’s journey. It is simply a cessation of existence. Most souls wish to continue their journey indefinitely. So no, it does not happen often, the door will only open for those who have crossed the River and if you have found it in your heart to do that, your soul is most often pure.’

  Dom glanced at the door again, then back at Persephone’s unusually familiar face. ‘Everything is connected here, isn’t it? Everything is connected to your own, like, your own . . .’ he searched for the words, ‘journey? Life?’

  ‘Yes.’ She smiled. ‘We attract coincidence here.’

  He looked at the door one last time, and then turned. ‘I have to wait for Eva. I can’t go through without her. I know we might be separated afterwards.’ He held up a hand to stop her from trying to dissuade him. ‘But, I love her. I need to wait.’

  Surprisingly Persephone just sighed and said quietly, ‘I understand. But I suspect it will be a problem. Anubis wants something of you. He has a plan.’

  ‘Do you know where Eva is?’ he asked tentatively, sure she would not tell him.

  ‘She is with the Nephilim. On the other side of the River.’

  Dom was surprised. ‘With Deora? That’s . . . not what I expected.’

  Persephone tilted her head, ‘No, with Satarial, the Nephilim. He has been in the Maze before.’

  Now he was truly surprised. ‘Eva. And Satarial. Together. Really? But Anubis said there was only one Nephilim in here. I guess he lied.’

  Persephone watched his face. ‘Anubis is allowed to trick. To fool and to convince, but he may not lie directly to a human.’ She glanced around quickly. ‘You are wasting minutes, Dominic. Go find the girl and return. I hope to see you here, before your time is up.’ She leaned forward suddenly, putting her hand on the side of his face in a kind, almost motherly gesture. As she touched his skin it was as though Dominic were falling, somewhere into his own thoughts, backwards. He struggled to stand up. Grabbing her hand he pulled the woman in white closer to his face. ‘Maya? You are Maya?’

  She leaped back, her hand on the small knife at her waist. ‘Who are you?’

  ‘Was that your human name?’ Dom leaned forward insistently. ‘Maya?’

  ‘My name was Amalia.’ Persephone put a hand across her mouth as she said the word, remembering something. ‘When I was alive. Only one . . . only one called me Maya.’

  ‘The Angel?’ Dom said quietly. ‘Eduardo?’

  ‘It was an Angel. But his name was Aro.’ She was wary.

  Dominic grabbed her hand and held it tightly. ‘Was it him?’ He concentrated every ounce of his mind on Eduardo’s face, trying to bring it into focus. Maya’s body stiffened as she saw his thoughts. ‘Yes. That is him. Where is he?’

  ‘He is in the City. In the Necropolis. Waiting for you.’

  She sagged and leaned against the wall to catch herself. ‘I have been waiting here for him. It is why I stayed, so I could wait for him. But he never came.’

  ‘He won’t leave the City, because he waits for you.’ Dom smiled at her. ‘You need to go back for him.’

  Tears sprang suddenly to her eyes. ‘I cannot leave. I cannot leave unless another takes my place. Of their free will. I have been here a very, very long time.’

  Dom’s mind spun. ‘Then I will go back to the City and get him. I think the Nephilim should have forgotten how much they hate me by now.’ He winced at the thought. ‘My sister will be there. We can work together and then I can do the Maze again.’

  ‘Do not forget that time is very different here, Dominic. It may be centuries since you left. Or even more.’

  He sighed and lifted his hourglass: 1680 minutes. It was low enough to be worrying. ‘But Eduardo will still be there. And I can’t leave him to wait. He is my friend. Honestly, the best I’ve ever had.’

  Maya smiled through her wet eyes. ‘Yes. That sounds like Aro. Eduardo.’ She tried out the word. ‘What you must do, Dominic, is follow your own destiny and we must live out ours. He is immortal. And I have an eternal role. One day, we must cross paths again. Surely.’ Her smile was unconvincing, but she stood tall and waved a hand towards the River. ‘The boatman will take you back across the River. You will be able to return as before, but unless they have completed their own tasks, your friends will not be able to cross with you. And you do not have much time.’

  Dom saw the boat and its shadowy captain in the dim light a few hundred yards away. He looked back at Maya. ‘I still have some time. I will think of something. I will.’

  She smiled and waved him away, and when he glanced around again she had walked into the darkness. He ran for the boat, leaping over the side. The dark shrouded figure pushed off into the River and steered the boat across, pushing his pole against something under the water that Dom couldn’t see. A hard surface below the pale, floating bodies. Their miserable faces distressed him, so he averted his gaze, looking forward instead. He could see no figures on the far shore. Turning to the boatman he asked, ‘Do you know where the girl is? On the other side?’

  ‘Of course I do.’ The deep voice was so resonant, it cut through him. It was the voice of Anubis.

  Dom backed away and crawled as far from him as the small boat would allow. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘It is my Maze, remember, I can do whatever I like.’ Anubis smiled from under the black hood. ‘I will take you directly to the girl after you have heard my proposal.’ His voice changed then and lowered as though he were afraid to be overheard, though Dominic could not imagine by whom. ‘You clearly have the favour of the Awe. I have heard about your journey through the City. You are unafraid and bold.’

  Dom disagreed with almost every part of the statement, but remained silent, waiting.

  ‘I no longer wish to be Guardian of the Maze. I wish to be a part of a very great revolution, which is forming outside of the human realm. I am a powerful warrior, Dominic, and it is where I belong. But I am held here under the laws of the Awe until I find a replacement for myself.’

  Dom sighed. ‘Like Persephone.’

  Anubis seemed slightly annoyed by the reference to Persephone, but then smiled as a new idea hit him.
‘Exactly. You are the only human I have ever seen who could take on my role. And I am offering the honour of it to you. With it comes immortality. Something that is rarely offered to humans.’

  ‘No thank—’

  ‘Wait. Think carefully before you decide. When you leave the Maze the Awe will throw you through time and space as it always does, in an endless experiment for its own amusement. You could be a child again. A Guide. Probably a Guardian in the City. You could go onwards to another realm. But the chances of being with your human? They are next to nothing. I can offer you that. In exchange for my freedom. Your human . . .’

  ‘Eva,’ Dom supplied.

  ‘She could take the place of Persephone.’ Anubis steered closer to the shore.

  Dom didn’t know what to say. He did not want to stay in this dark, dim place with its Lost Souls and the endless scent of emptiness. But this was a solution that actually might work. For all of them. If that was what Eva wanted. He felt again the pangs of doubt that she would want to stay here with him forever.

  ‘I don’t know.’ He rubbed his face. ‘Argh. I just don’t know. I will need to speak with Eva. Can you take me to her?’

  ‘She is over there.’ Anubis bumped the boat up against a shoreline Dom hadn’t seen coming.

  There was a figure moving in the dim light. It could be Eva, but she was alone, not with Satarial. He turned back to Anubis and their eyes met; the golden yellow eyes of the Angel were bright, focused and intent. They worried Dom. He seemed mad. Had the Maze turned him insane or had he always been that way?

  Dom climbed from the boat and walked tentatively across the stones towards the figure. It was definitely a girl and it looked more and more like Eva as he came closer. He stopped. Something was wrong. It felt like there was no air suddenly. Something within him knew it was Deora. He started to walk backwards quickly. The figure turned and walked towards him and despite her familiarity he was surprised by his own sense of fear as the Nephilim girl moved closer. His legs wanted to run.

  ‘Dominic.’ She smiled. ‘Where have you been? I have been searching for you.’

  Dom remembered the arrow Persephone had fired, but Deora showed no sign of injury. ‘Are you okay?’

  Her smile widened. ‘Yes, her arrows contain magic. It was a trick.’ She moved closer. ‘You have spoken with Anubis? He told me what he wanted with you. What a wonderful plan. We will go through the Room of Judgement together first, and then you can choose your destiny.’ Her hand reached towards him, ready to take his arm.

  Dom reacted quickly, knowing his only chance was surprise. He slipped his hand into his satchel, extracted the smallest knife he had, a palm-sized flick knife Eduardo had given him, and sliced it hard across her forearm. They both looked down at the perfect skin, uninjured despite the force with which he had struck her. There was a long moment of silence as she slowly lifted her head. Her face was astonishing, beautiful and flawless, but ugly with anger, twisted and tight. She couldn’t hold the rage for more than a second and her hand shot out and slapped him across his face.

  ‘How dare you!’ She spat the words. ‘How dare you even touch me!’

  Dom shook his head to clear it, his mind racing to remember what Eduardo had told him. ‘You’re an Archangel.’

  She reached to hit him again, but his instincts took over and he stepped clear.

  ‘I am Superios. And you should not even be speaking my name. If you were not protected by death, I would rip you apart. I may do that anyway.’

  ‘What do you want? Anubis? For a rebellion.’

  ‘I already have the Angelus. Most of them. Anubis is nothing. A child. I wanted the Awe and foolishly I had thought you might be my way through the Maze. Humans have a direct line in every lifetime to meet with the Awe. Superios no longer do. You cannot destroy something if you cannot find it.’

  ‘Why would you want to destroy the Awe? It made you.’

  ‘We have outgrown it. We have . . . out-evolved it. And I am sick of rules.’

  ‘You want access to the humans, don’t you? You want to cause trouble.’

  She laughed. ‘You are so very slow, Dominic. The human mind is weak. I have no interest in humans. I would not acknowledge your existence at all if the Awe were not so . . . fascinated with you. But since I wish to end all this . . . predetermination, this mind-numbing journey of self-discovery the Awe has forced us all into, I will not hesitate to destroy humans as well. It is not personal, Dominic. You are actually the only human I have ever met that does not . . . repulse me, as I imagined you would.’

  ‘Well, thank you for that,’ Dom mocked quietly. ‘I think you are jealous.’ Strangely he felt no fear. He had faced death already, several times. She disgusted him more than anything.

  Deora’s face showed a new flash of anger. Eduardo had been right, she had no control over her emotions at all. To have managed to hide herself even among the flighty Nephilim must have taken all of her limited self-control.

  ‘Of what would I be jealous, Dominic? Your inconsequential lives? Your lack of intelligence, speed, power and strength? Or your ability to die at any given moment?’

  Dominic remembered his conversation with Eduardo. ‘But that is our finest quality, Deora. Our ability to die. It means every moment counts. Every second is noticed. Important. None of yours matter at all. Isn’t that why you are in this dark, oppressive place? You are bored. Instead of building incredible things or becoming better people, you’re here trying to destroy something that is none of your business. Because you feel empty. And jealous.’

  She made a hissing sound and her words sounded like an animal. ‘I am not jealous of a people whose majority are always seeking peace and love and trying to care for the weak. It is pathetic. We are a race of war and iron-strength. We do not accept wrongs against us.’

  ‘I will not help you reach the Awe. In fact I will not let you.’ He stepped back, ready for whatever her reaction might be.

  It was predictably anger, tempered with surprise. ‘Not let me? Let’s see you try, Dominic. If you can get past Anubis, then you can try to stop me.’

  Dom had not been aware of the Angel, and with his dark skin he had blended into the dim light on the riverbank. The first Dom knew of his presence was a set of animal fangs sinking into the back of his neck, shaking wildly and throwing him to his knees. Dom shook himself and rolled away, facing the huge dog with his arms up. His body was weak and it didn’t heal well in the Maze, but his access to Eduardo’s training was still sharp in his mind and he shifted his body subtly to fight the shape-shifting Anubis.

  The jackal leaped towards him and Dom rolled again, kicking back behind him to hit the beast in its ribs. There was a howl as he connected and a cough as Anubis changed abruptly into his Angel form, towering over Dom, who sprang back to his feet. The Angel’s wings swung around to hit him over the head, but again Dominic was quick enough to get out of the way, this time rolling towards Anubis and hitting him hard in the nerve that ran up the back of his legs. The Angel roared and threw himself at Dominic. It was different to fighting Eduardo, who had been patient and had outsmarted him. Anubis didn’t take any time to think, so Dom could simply allow his instincts to help him. The problem was the bite on his neck, which was bleeding a thick, hot flood, making him weaker and his left arm less responsive. He swung at Anubis again, aiming for his lower back as the Angel leaped over him, but missed. This time a wing, hard and fast in its swoop, hit him across the side of the head, knocking him to the ground. Struggling to find his feet he saw Anubis striding towards him, his hands tight as spring steel, ready to strike. Unable to stand completely upright Dom braced himself for the hit. It never came. Two figures, both in white, hit Anubis in unison from either side, one with barely enough force to do more than draw his attention away from Dom, and the other with a powerful grace that threw the Angel backwards to the ground. Dom shook his head to clear his vision.

  Persephone climbed back to her feet from where she had fallen after she had char
ged the huge Angel, the white veil in place across her face. His other ally was Satarial, who was wrestling wildly on the ground with Anubis. Persephone ran towards Dom and placed her hands over his wound, again healing it instantly.

  She smiled. ‘What small powers I have, are yours. Where is she—’

  The words were cut off as she was pulled from him by Deora, who threw her aside. But Persephone was quick; leaping to her feet and drawing her bow, she fired several arrows in quick succession at the Archangel. They hit her shoulder and back and she had to pause to pull them from her flesh.

  There was no damage and she spoke in a cold, rasping tone. ‘What was that supposed to do? You cannot hurt me.’

  Deora was solely focused on Persephone, the current object of her rage. She had so little control over her own anger that she couldn’t focus on anything except whoever had angered her most recently. It was a weakness Dom could use. He reached for Persephone’s mind again, trying to share the knowledge with her. It was hard for him to know if he had succeeded, but he launched himself back at Deora, determined to help Persephone fight her, at least until they ran out of strength. It was a brutal fight; Deora was unskilled yet lethal in her ability to take whatever blows they rained on her. Her anger made her erratic and hard to predict, and the strength of her blows were far greater than either he or Persephone could take for long. Finally, Deora pulled an arrow from Persephone’s quiver and threw it at Dom. Over a distance of less than a foot it should have done little damage, but with her strength, it flew straight through his torso and out the other side.

  It was as though all the air was sucked instantly from his body. He couldn’t breathe in and when he tried, the hole in the right side of his chest wheezed and whispered out bubbles of blood. He fell back, unable to stand, and could do nothing but fight the painful urge to breathe while he watched Persephone struggle on. The lack of oxygen made him weak and dizzy and it was a strange sensation to be near death, but unable to die. An empty useless feeling of constant physical desire to breathe. He could do nothing but watch as Persephone and Deora, Satarial and Anubis fought on in front of him.