by Brindi Quinn
Oh Creator! What’s she going to do?!
I didn’t have to wait long. Teeth grinding, she kicked the fire, setting Rend’s traveling slipper ablaze.
“Ah! No!” Scardo flung himself forward and hurried to empty a canteen onto it. With that and a few frantic kicks of dirt, he was able to put the fire out, but Rend’s foot had already taken injury. Her boot was completely missing in some places, and the flesh there blistered.
Wide-eyed, Scardo turned to Grotts for instruction, but Grotts only shook his head to put a stop to Scardo’s interference. He knew as well as I that we were dealing with a maniac and that we had to be careful how we handled her.
Illuma totally ignored both of them and walked over to Sowpa, who was still motionlessly bound by Nyte’s spell.
“I see you’ve found one of my commanders,” she said. “Tell me, what are you planning to do with him?”
In an odd act of protectiveness, Trib stepped in front of Sowpa and put her hands out. “What do you want from us?” she demanded. It was almost as though she wasn’t afraid of what Illuma might try. If she was, she hid it well.
Illuma didn’t freak out like I expected her to. She just put a curious hand to her chest and said, “Interesting. This body reacts to you. Did you know?”
“Huh?”
“Nothing.” She dropped the hand and whipped around to face Ardette again. “What I want is for the Heart of Salvation to come with me. Easy as that.”
“Ha!” Ardette stepped into place beside Trib. “Good luck with that one.”
“Maybe I should have rephrased that better,” said Illuma, jerking her head a little to the side out of what I could only imagine was withheld rage. “Aura WILL accompany me, or I’ll kill this Elf!” She gestured down Rend’s figure.
“Do not dare!” yelled Nyte. He reached for his sword but realized it was pointless. He’d only be injuring Rend if he tried anything. Loathing defeat, he curled his hand into a shaking ball.
Illuma opened her palm to reveal a stray head from one of Scardo’s arrows. I hadn’t caught at which moment she’d picked it up; but what mattered now was that she had it, and that she was slowly bringing it to Rend’s arm.
“Wait!” cried Darch.
But it did nothing to stop her. While we looked on helplessly, my maniac of a sister dug the point deep into Rend’s skin and pulled it, cutting, from elbow to shoulder. Blood immediately began to gush. A trail of dripping red, it mixed with the blood from the bite.
I had to look away.
“STOP!” Nyte bolted forward to tackle her again, and this time, Scardo ran to help. It was no use, though, because Illuma’s vessel possessed Elven speed and strength. Even with both of them coming at her, she managed to dodge them by leaping to the top of a nearby tree.
“Now, now. Don’t be a fool.” She dug the arrowhead into Rend’s other arm and produced another gush of crimson. “See what happens when you’re foolish?”
Rend’s body was being maimed before our eyes, and it was too much.
“Stop!” I yelled, wiggling myself in a feeble attempt to escape the ropes holding me. “I’ll go with you! I promise I will! Just leave Rend be, okay? I’ll go!”
“Um, how about no?” said Ardette. “You aren’t going anywhere. You do realize she plans to sacrifice you, don’t you?”
“Sacrifice?” Illuma played innocent. “Oh, no, of course not! I just want you to come with me to the border. That’s all. Once there, I’ll leave the Elf’s body so that the Magir can seal her up. You do know how, don’t you?” She motioned to Darch and he nodded.
Grotts twisted his hands around the handle of his hammer. I’d never seen him appear so dangerous. With clear abhorrence, he roared, “There’s no way we’re buyin’ it! Yer wastin’ yer breath, ya damn psycho!”
“How about this?” said Illuma. Rend’s blood continued to run down her arms. “You don’t even have to cross the border. Just come near the border so that Lusafael can speak to you. That’s safe, isn’t it? He just wants to strike a peaceful bargain with the Heart of Salvation. A treaty, so to speak. At least hear him out.”
“Do not make me laugh!” said Nyte. “He will disintegrate her with his white light!”
“What point would that serve? My song would be void then. Remember, Nyte? I have to be the one to kill her? Unfortunately, it has to be by my own hand or it won’t work. Otherwise, I’d do it with these.” She held up Rend’s hands, which were now stained completely wet.
I couldn’t let Rend take any more of my sister’s insane cruelty.
“Illuma, don’t hurt her anymore!” I said. “I’ll go with you to the border! I’ll agree to it! Nyte, come untie me!”
“I shall not aid in something so foolish!”
“But she’ll kill Rend!”
“My decision stands. Rend would chose the same were it me.”
To be honest, she’d already chosen to let him die for a similar cause, so he did have a point; but I didn’t like it, and I wasn’t going to give up.
“Okay, then,” I said. “I’m supposed to be saving my strength for ad’ai, right? I haven’t sung to release these ropes yet because I was waiting for a time when I could sing something weak and flee to a place far from Nyte. However, if you don’t untie me, Ardette, I’ll use all of my power to sing my way out of them. Ad’ai will come, and I’ll be killed by the Song of Salvation anyway. How does that sound?”
The space erupted with angry protests.
“Aura! Yer a gosh darn idiot if ya do that!”
“M-Miss Heart! What are you saying!?”
“QUIET!” yelled Ardette, putting a stop to the furious buzz. He gave me a look of disapproval. “Think you’re crafty, do you?” He sighed. “Nyte, bind her, then. If she can’t be reasoned with, we’ll just have to bind her.”
Nyte nodded and readied his hands.
“NYTE, NO! It won’t work! I can sing under my breath. I’ve done it before. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll find a way to force the power out of me anyway!”
Ardette folded his arms. “Hmph. You can’t do that.”
“How do you know? Will you take the chance?”
I opened my mouth to start a song.
“The sky’s tears come, pour over-”
“UGH! You disobedient cherry! Grotts! Your knife!”
“What?! Hell no!”
“The sky’s tears come-”
“NOW!”
Grumbling, Grotts threw him the short knife that always resided in his pocket.
“No!” yelled Nyte. “Do not!”
Ardette turned to him and threw up his hands. “What do you want from me? She’ll kill herself for your nagging cousin! We’ll go to the border with her. When ad’ai comes, you’ll be right there. It’s almost upon us anyway. If they’ve some evil plot,” – he glared up at Illuma – “which I’m sure they do, we’ll just stall until ad’ai.” Ardette cut the rope holding me to the tree, but didn’t remove the bindings around my wrists and ankles. He threw the knife back to Grotts, and to Ardette he commanded, “Carry her!”
Nyte scooped me up, but he wasn’t gentle or loving. He was rough because he was displeased with me. And why wouldn’t he be? I was ruining everything because I couldn’t let Rend die. I couldn’t let any of them die. That was exactly what Illuma and Lusafael were counting on.
“Perfect,” cooed Illuma. “I knew you’d see reason.” She snapped and pointed forward – “This way!” – before springing to the next tree with ease.
Nyte said nothing to me the whole way to the marsh’s end. He was angrier with me than he’d ever been before, and it was hard for me to bear. In an attempt to keep the situation from growing worse, I also said nothing. The rest of the guardians followed behind, save Trib and Kantú, who stayed at the fire with Sowpa.
When we reached the barrier line of changing earth a few moments later, Rend fell into a heaping pile. Grotts threw his hammer down and ran to her. Darch was close in toe. Both of her arms were still seeping
blood, so Grotts pulled out several pieces of cloth and started to bandage her wounds. Darch placed a pinky to her petal tattoo in what I could only assume was a sealing process to keep Illuma from entering again.
When they were both through with their respective jobs, Grotts pulled the unconscious Elf away from the border and behind a clump of low plant-life. Still holding me tightly, Nyte took a spot next her. The others placed themselves between us and the barrier.
“There’s still no sign of him!” said Scardo. He anxiously scuttled about, bow readied and eyes keen.
“Just be on your guard.” Ardette’s weapon was also ready. “I’m certain he won’t be able to slow us down using time transcendence once ad’ai starts, but before that . . . Ugh. I can’t believe you’re doing this, cherry pit! What are you thinking? You’re going to get us all killed, you know!”
“You know we couldn’t let her kill Rend. She would have, too. I know she would have!” I turned my eyes from him so that I could gaze up at the person holding me. “Nyte . . .”
His expression was stern. He was still mad at me. I was mad at him too, but I was glad to be in his arms.
Together we waited in apprehension. Aside from Scardo, we were still.
“Nyte?” I whispered after another uneventful minute. The sky was black now, but there was no sign of the moon. There were no stars either.
Nyte ignored me, so I continued,
“If these are our last moments . . .”
This time, he glanced down. Upon locking eyes with mine, his narrowed.
I told him without words that I was sorry, but that it was something I’d needed to do. He continued to stare at me a bit before finally sighing through his teeth. He knew me well enough to know that I’d only wanted what was best for the rest of them. He didn’t say anything to voice it, though. He just kissed the top of my head and returned to angrily staring at the horizon.
But although it wasn’t much, my spirits lifted because it was good enough for me. Just one last loving gesture was all I’d needed. Now I was ready to face the end.
We saw Lusafael’s glow before anything else. A shining, perfect man in a white, pristine tuxedo was coming toward us in a pace that was frighteningly fast. At first, all we could see was that shine, but when he got closer, we saw that he was holding a thin girl with violet hair.
Illuma’s body was limp in his arms.
He was as beautiful as the last time, with flawless, metallic skin that showed off bits of light, and hair that was long and fluid. Now that I was close to him again, I saw that he was more beautiful than Mikkan. In fact, he was more beautiful than any of the angels we’d seen in Célesteen. Complete purity. All of him was that way, except for his darker-than-void eyes. Those were haunting . . . and sinister.
The angel of destruction came right to the border, but like Mikkan, he couldn’t enter.
“I arrive,” he said.
Ardette wrinkled his face in disgust. “‘I arrive’? What’s that supposed to be? Some sort of greeting?”
Lusafael nodded and stared at us, unblinking. Being in his presence wasn’t as impressive and intimidating as it had been the last time. I wasn’t completely lost in the glow; I was just taken with it. That meant he must’ve been suppressing himself or something. But still, being in the presence of an angel, especially one that was written of in folklore, was difficult to comprehend. I found myself staring. More specifically, I found myself staring into those frightening eyes.
Were they really stained with the Mud Sea’s mire? He really couldn’t see us right now? I couldn’t tell, and after only a short stare, I had to look away. They were just too evil for me to examine them further. I shifted the stare to his silver, light-infused skin. It was unreal. He was unreal.
The others treated him as nothing special.
“What do you want?” snarled Nyte. “Ad’ai will begin at any second! Whatever you are attempting – it is useless!”
“I have come to make a deal with the Heart of Salvation.”
“Yer makin’ deals with nobody!” growled Grotts. His hammer was back in his hands, and in response to the growl, it pulsed blue.
“Let the Heart of Salvation speak for herself. Come out, Aura Rosh. If you wish to spare your guardians, you will come out and offer yourself to me.”
“Save my guardia-”
But Nyte and Ardette cut me off at the same time with a rage-fueled,
“NEVER!”
Lusafael simply responded, “Come.”
Ardette released one of his deep laughs. “Please, oh pompous one, educate us on why the hell you’d expect her to do that?”
“This is your choice, Aura Rosh. Sacrifice yourself to me, or I shall unleash my army unto your comrades.”
Army?
I didn’t see one, but Lusafael’s unemotional confidence was making me doubt that we really had nothing to worry about. I glanced nervously at Darch. He shook his head firmly. He wasn’t worried. Why wasn’t he worried?!
“Army?” Ardette laughed. “I see no army!”
“This is your final chance.” Lusafael drilled his black, nothing-filled eyes into mine. They made me shrink deeper into Nyte’s arms. “The blood of your comrades shall be on your hands.”
I opened my mouth to ask for elaboration, but Nyte stifled my words with his palm.
“Even if she would agree, I will not!” he shouted.
“Is that your answer?” said Lusafael, unflinching. “Then I shall force you out. Until you decide to hand her over, I shall force you out.” His white glow increased a little.
‘Force us out’?! Shouldn’t we do something?!
But Ardette locked eyes with me, sending me an unspoken message to remain calm. Darch still didn’t seem worried at all, either. Apparently, they both knew something that the rest of us didn’t because as far as I could tell, we were in serious danger.
The silver of Lusafael’s skin pulsed brighter. Then, using words of Angelic, he bellowed like thunder, “Ambernos! Delchtti mo han eekalat!”
At the same time, Ardette, bearing a sparkling, triumphant smile, yelled,
“You’re too late! Hear that, swine? You’re TOO LATE! There!” He pointed victoriously to the sky where the largest moon I’d ever seen was starting to ascend from its hiding place beyond the horizon. “Ad’ai is upon us!”
Ardette reached into his pocket for the thing I hated most in the world. The time for the emulator to take his role was here, and I was stuck in Nyte’s arms with no way of escape. I was about to be forced to do the one thing I couldn’t do. I was about to be forced to kill Nyte.
But by some miracle, just as Ardette wound his arm to throw the necklace at us, Nyte shook his head.
“Wait!” he cried, ears perked. “Do you not hear something?!”
“Ar-ta-ta-ta-ta!”
“What was that?” said Scardo, turning his bow to the deeper part of the marsh. “A fero?”
Grotts squinted. “Sure sounded like one, but didn’t it sound kinda different?”
“Different how?” asked Scardo.
“He means pissed off,” said Ardette. He and Nyte exchanged a look of wariness.
“Is this yer plan? One fer-” But the gruff man was interrupted because just then, the air exploded with a mass of the creaking calls.
I’d been wrong. It was no miracle that had saved us from the pendant. It was calamity, and though we didn’t know it, it was quickly approaching something very precious that we’d left unattended.
“It’s reinforcements!” cried Darch.
Lusafael showed no emotion. Not even the slightest shift in expression. “Let me know when you would like to surrender,” he said.
The calls of the fero grew louder in an instant, and from behind us, there were several screams. Most of them were Kantú. At least one of them belonged to the hoarse Trib.
“He’s not sending them here!” cried Scardo. “He’s sending them there!”
“NO!” With nothing more than that one word of w
arning, Grotts took off in a full-gaited gallop back in the direction camp.
“Surrender yourself, Aura Rosh,” called Lusafael. “Surrender yourself, and your detail will be spared.”
“Okay!” I said without thinking reasonably at all. “I will! I’ll surrender! Nyte, put me down! Put me down now!” I kicked against him.
It was stupid. I was throwing it all away, but all I knew was that the others were in danger and that I had to help them.
“There is no way that I will give you up for surrender! It will all be for nothing if you allow Illuma to kill you! Think of all of the people that will suffer! Farellah and Yes’lech! They will all be destroyed!”
“But Kantú-”
“You are not thinking clearly! I will not release you to him! Come! Let us return to the others! Ardette?!”
“Yes, after you! Move it, would you?!
Darch tapped Rend’s forehead a few times, and she awoke, seething. “How DARE she enter into my body! How dare she desecrate an Elf’s-”
“Rend! Just run!” Darch tugged on her arm. “We don’t have time for you to be . . . you right now!”
“WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY-” But when she set eyes on Lusafael, it was enough to send her into motion. “Argh!” Her wounded foot hit the ground for the first time, and she let out a scream.
“Cousin, you must bear it!”
“Of course I will bear it! Do not tarry on my account! GO!”
Ardette rushed to her and wrapped an arm around her hip.
“What do you think you are doing?!”
“You’ve no choice but to rely on me. Isn’t it a joy?”
“ARGH!” she let out another scream. However, this one was out of anger, not pain, because she had no choice but to let him help her. Darch grabbed her other side, and the three of them started away.
Scardo lagged behind, bow-readied for any feros that might try to attack.
Meanwhile, while all of this was going on, Lusafael had turned his attention to Illuma. She was still like a doll in his arms, but when he placed a spread-fingered hand on her forehead, it emitted a tiny blast of light that sent her jolting.
She was revived, and she was right into the action.
