Dust

by Angela Nock

  'How can I believe you?' There was something stirring inside me, something that understood the aching she was talking about, but how could I trust she wasn't just appealing to some romantic side of my nature? How could I trust myself?

  Death's cold hand clasped mine. 'Close your eyes,' she said. I did as I was told. 'Now open them.'

  I was standing in what could've been a cave. I couldn't be sure because I couldn't see any walls, anything solid to say for sure. All I could see was lines of silk thread spread out over darkness like an intricate spider's web.

  'What is this?'

  'This is the map of your life. Every special moment, every part of your life is contained within this tapestry,' she said, running her spindly fingers across the lines of white thread.

  'It's just a web.'

  'To you maybe, but to me, to those that can read such things,' she said, with a wistful smile, 'it's a chart of your life.'

  'What, everything is mapped out for me?'

  'Yes. And no. Not everything is set in the thread. Sometimes things come to me, glimpses of your future, and those are weaved into your tapestry. But there's still a part of your life that is free, where you are free to choose what you want to do.'

  'It's a mess,' I said, looking at the threads crisscrossing across the black, 'just like I am. I know, I can see, it's mine.'

  Death shook her head. 'No, it's not a mess. It looks that way because your soul has many lives to live. Some are years from now, but I sometimes I catch moments of them and I embroider these onto your life story. I may be the bringer of death…'

  'But you're the protector of life too.'

  Death nodded. 'You weren't supposed to be together in this life…I…I didn't know what else to do. I had to stop Hyperion.'

  'You used us? Our connection?'

  She nodded. A single tear traced a track down her pale face.

  'I must now make everything right again. I must -'

  'Take Josh?'

  'Yes, but please, please, believe me when I say you will be together again.'

  'Just not in this life.'

  'Maybe not for several lives. But you will find each other again. His soul won't be destroyed completely, it will find its way back home.'

  I was back in the valley, standing next to the eternally flowing stream. I knew nothing would ever be the same again. I would never be the same again. I couldn't be.

  'So what happens now?'

  'I send you back.'

  'Will I remember?'

  'Do you want to remember?'

  I nodded. 'Yes.'

  'Will you tell him he was the one that was meant to die?'

  'I don't know.'

  'I'm sorry,' she said, 'for everything. I underestimated you. I should have seen your strength, instead, all I saw was weakness.'

  I couldn't blame her, for that is all I'd seen in myself too.

  She clasped my head in her hands. 'One last thing,' she whispered, 'there's a whole world out there, don't waste it waiting for him. Don't waste the time you have in this life. Believe in yourself. You have grieved for your father. You will grieve for Josh, but, when the time is right, you will be resurrected. Reborn again, and life will go on. And remember, although you will lose many people in your life, not everyone you will lose, will be a loss. The hardest thing you can ever do is grieve for someone still alive.' She planted a cold kiss on my head. 'Now straighten your crown and get out there and live.'

  'I will.'

  'I must go.' She turned to leave.

  'How long have we got?'

  'Until the dawn after next full moon. When the sun begins to rise, he will die.'

  'But how long is that?' I could hear the desperation in my own voice. But it was no good. She was gone and I was returned to the black.

  Chapter Eighteen

  There was a boom, so loud and so deep, that it hurt inside my chest. My ribs felt like they'd shattered inside me. A bright flare that turned from sapphire-blue to gold and then pure white in a matter of seconds before everything went black.

  Black. But safe. I felt cocooned. Protected, although I didn't know why. I knew I was going to live. I was going to live!

  A flash of light penetrated through the darkness as if someone had placed their hands over my eyes but the light from outside was so bright that it still managed to break through. And then it was gone again.

  My ears hurt deep inside, there was a ringing, an uncomfortable feeling of pressure in my eardrum.

  The dark veil lifted. Light stung my eyes. I didn't know where I was but I could see dark blots moving in the bright light.

  'Evie?'

  I recognised the voice but I couldn't place it. It was muffled, like I was submerged underwater.

  'Evie?' The voice repeated. 'Is she...?'

  Josh? It was Josh's voice....? I needed to see him.

  'She'll be fine,' said another voice, 'just give her a minute.'

  'Are you sure? Did you see what she did? The blast…I don't think…'

  'Evie is fine. I told you. Sophia took most of the damage from the explosion.'

  'Sophia….?'

  'Yes. She saw what was about to happen and moved to protect her.'

  'Is she…?'

  'Sophia?' The name had escaped from my lips. Sophia had saved me. Sophia had saved me? I didn't know. I didn't remember.

  The fog hanging over my eyes was slowly dissipating. Josh's face came into view. He pulled me to my feet and threw his arms around me. Showered me with kisses.

  'Oh, Evie,' he said, 'I thought I'd lost....' His voice broke.

  'Josh, thank God you're alive.' I held his face in my hands and took in every single part of him. His crystal, rainbow eyes. I could never tire of looking into those eyes. He was alive! I'd been given a second chance with him, no matter how brief that would prove to be. My heart sang. He was alive. I was alive. But what about Sophia?

  'Sophia?' I asked, frantically searching for her in the carnage.

  Death appeared in front of me.

  'Evie,' she said, her words soft and tender, 'She's hurt but okay. Michael is tending to her wounds, she…'

  'Saved me. Where is she?'

  I looked around. The scene before me was nothing like I remembered. There was a huge crater in front of me, littered with bones, and limbs of trees and chunks of stone. The Four Horsemen statues had been destroyed and the stone altar completely obliterated. In the middle of the war zone, the three relics lay discarded but intact, surrounded by a large pool of congealing blood. A fine black soot covered everything in sight. There was no sign of Melusine or of Lucifer. Were they both dead?

  The Newspapers and Media outlets would explain it away as a major gas leak, the explosion from it, it was said, could be seen for miles and had sent shockwaves that could be felt as far away as Birmingham. But I knew the truth.

  Michael was huddled over Sophia. I couldn't see her clearly. I didn't know how badly she was hurt.

  I untangled myself from Josh's arms and raced over to them.

  Sophia was slumped over on her hands and knees. Her back had taken the full force of the blast and it had ripped the skin from her muscles. Two bony stumps - from which her wings had once hung - protruded out from the wound. The edge of the damaged area was singed and black and smelled of barbequed meat. It looked excruciating.

  'Is she okay?' What a stupid question. Of course, she wasn't okay!

  Michael turned his head, and spoke to me over his shoulder. 'She's not -'

  'I'm okay,' said Sophia cutting across him. She looked up at me and said, 'It looks worse than it is.' She sounded tired, and despite her bravado, I could see that her words were taking lots of her energy.

  'She needs to go home,' said Michael studying the wound, 'we need to tend to these wounds before they become infected.'

  'I'll be okay, father,' she snapped. She struggled to her feet.

  'Sophia, you need to come home.'

  'Evie….'

  'Thank you for saving me,' I
said, flinging my arms around her. I felt her wince at my touch, from pain, not repulsion. 'Sorry!' I let my arms fall from her broken body.

  She smiled and reached out to touch my cheek. I could see the pain written all over her face.

  'It's I that should thank you. I underestimated you, and yet, you are the one that saved us.'

  I felt my face turn red.

  Josh put his arm around me. 'She's shown us all.'

  'You need to get those wounds looked at.' It was Death. She sounded relieved. 'Sophia, go home.'

  'I...'

  'Home, Sophia,' said Michael.

  'I can't. I'm fallen. I...'

  'Sophia,' said Michael, 'I can take you home. You can come home.'

  'I can be re-instated? I can be...?'

  'An angel again. Yes,' said Michael, a wide, loving smile on his face.

  'What about the spear? The relics?' she asked.

  'Indeed,' said Lucifer.

  He made me jump. I hadn't seen him walking over. I was too wrapped up with Sophia. He still looked beautiful, like a fallen star, despite the dirt and blood covering his body. But there was a storm brewing upon his face.

  'She could have killed us all,' he said.

  'But she didn't,' said Death, 'I think it's time you sent your hordes home, don't you?'

  'Why?' Lucifer spun around to face her. He towered over her. The light from the setting sun made his golden hair look as if it were on fire. He looked menacing.

  'Hyperion might be dead thanks to this girl,' he said, with a snarl of distaste, 'but the relics have still been reunited, a direct violation of the truce. Not only that, I have lost my commander, Buer, and Asmodeus was badly injured, protecting me. I have lost two good Commanders here today.'

  'And yet, here you are with no wounds,' said Death.

  Lucifer ignored her. 'Do you think I would dispel my hordes and go home after all this? Besides, I don't see you dismissing your angelic host.'

  'But Lucifer,' said Michael, 'we didn't want this. We were trying to stop him -'

  'And yet, here we are,' he said, folding his arms across his chest.

  I could see Sophia swaying on the spot, her face as pale as bone.

  'We need to get Sopha seen to,' I said, 'can't this wait?'

  'No, it can't wait. My hordes demand answers and I need recompense!'

  'What about a meeting?' said Josh.

  'I'm listening,' said Lucifer.

  'That's a good idea. A meeting, between the Archangels and the Archdemons, somewhere neutral where we can renegotiate the truce. And less of the little girl, Lucifer,' said Death, 'I think you'll find that little girl just defeated Hyperion. For us all.'

  I saw a smile spread across Sophia's face, although it pained her.

  'Okay,' said Lucifer, his one golden eyebrow raised high, 'but we still have the problem of the relics.'

  'The relics aren't a problem. I'll take them with me,' said Michael, 'we can redistrib -'

  'No.'

  'No…?' asked Michael, 'but…well, I…how dare….'

  'To keep the relics together is in direct violation -'

  'Of the truce! Yes we get it,' said Death, throwing her skeletal hands in the air, 'but we also need to move on. Humans will be sniffing around the place very soon. And it will be getting dark. The sun is already setting on us.'

  'Do you think my hordes will disperse if you have all the cards? All the relics? And after what Hyperion, an angel, just did?'

  'Can I make a suggestion?' I asked.

  Lucifer looked as if he'd swallowed a wasp. 'If you must.'

  'You take the Grail -'

  'Evie!' hissed Michael. Nothing against Michael, but I didn't like him calling me that.

  'Listen,' I said, holding my hands up to stop Michael from complaining any more, 'Lucifer has the grail,' I said, adding, 'until the meeting. The angels take the Spear -'

  'And the Book of Solomon?' said Lucifer. There are only two sides and three relics.'

  'I'll have it.'

  'You?' asked Michael.

  'Yes.'

  'But you're only a gir....human. And you're on the angel's side.'

  'Yes, yes and no. I don't want a Divine War on my conscience, so….'

  'And I'll be with her,' said Josh.

  'Okay, that's decided,' said Death. 'We can meet in my realm, as it is neutral, being neither angelic or demonic, but straddling the two. And we'll be safe to talk there. For as long as it takes to come to an agreeable solution. To all sides.'

  'But Evie cannot go there,' said Josh, 'can she?'

  'No,' said Death.

  'She doesn't need to be included in everything,' said Lucifer.

  'And I'm glad I don't have to be,' I said. Tiredness was taking my body over and I didn't want to be stood there whilst immortals negotiated a deal. They might have had all the time in the world. I didn't.

  'She doesn't have to be there,' said Sophia. 'What if she became the Watcher -'

  'But that's highly unusual, it's usually angels that do that sort of thing,' said Michael.

  'She's up to it,' said Sophia. 'She can hide it. We don't necessarily need an angel to watch over it.'

  'What if she gives it back to the angels?' asked Lucifer.

  'I won't. I will take it and hide it. You have my word.'

  'But her lifespan is short, she's not immortal like we are,' said Michael.

  Death stepped forward. 'I think she should be given a chance. Something tells me that she's more than up to the task.'

  'Azra, she's a -'

  'Human? Yes, Michael, we've established that, but until we can come up with a better solution….Besides, She did just put an end to Hyperion where we had failed. She's managed to avert a Divine War.'

  'And you'd be happy with that?' asked Lucifer.

  'Yes,' I said, knowing that this is what I was supposed to do.

  'It is settled then,' said Death. 'Now we must go. I can smell humans. I will see you in my realm shortly. Michael, dispel the angel host and take Sophia home.'

  'Azra,' I said, unsure if I should use her real name.

  'Yes?'

  'Thank you,' I said, flinging my arms around her, 'until we meet again.'

  She squeezed me tight and then disappeared into her blackness.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I had the Book of Solomon in my possession. The book that contained ALL knowledge of Heaven and earth, and Hell. All of the universe's secrets in my hands. I could only imagine what knowledge and power could be gained from the book. It pulsed with energy in my hands. It felt alive. But I had no desire, whatsoever, to look inside. I didn't want that sort of knowledge. I didn't want to be burdened with that sort of responsibility. I had everything I needed inside of me. Being with the angels had taught me that.

  I had defeated Hyperion. I had defeated my Demons. And now I had something to live for; I was worth it. Besides, I also found out that if I had looked inside those pages of knowledge, I would have been blinded, and unable to speak a word of what I had learnt. I would have had ALL knowledge, but no ability to use it.

  I didn't know what happened at the meeting of the Seven Archdemons and Seven Archangels but as war had not broken out, I figured it had gone well. So I was left to ponder; what to do with my life now?

  I had known the second the book was placed in my hands.

  Now all I had to do was tell Cassie.

  Josh and I found her curled up on the sofa, bottle of red wine in front of her and some romantic tosh of a film on telly.

  'You okay Hun?' she asked, taking a swig of red wine.

  It was surreal, standing there in the living room as if nothing had happened.

  'Yeah,' I replied, 'but I need to talk to you.'

  Josh squeezed my hand, and said, 'Do you want me to leave you alone for a few minutes?'

  I shook my head. 'No, thanks. I'm not going to be long.'

  'Can this wait?' asked Cassie. 'Only I'm watching -'

  'Sorry, Mom, but it can't. Do you remem
ber anything that happened yesterday?'

  'Why what happened yesterday?'

  'It doesn't matter,' I said, looking at the confusion on her face. She didn't remember any of it. Josh wiping her memory had worked. But I remembered. I remembered everything. And even though I knew that when she attacked me last night she was under Hyperion's influence, I also knew that she'd tried to hurt me when Hyperion wasn't around. I didn't know if I could ever forgive her for that. I didn't know whether I would ever get past it. And, to be honest, I didn't know if I would ever want to.

  'What's this about?'

  I coughed. 'I'm going away,' I said, grabbing on to Josh's hand, 'I'm going away and I'm not coming back.'

  'Evelyn? Don't be stupid. Of course you're coming back.' She stood up. 'What's going on? Has Josh been -'

  'Josh hasn't done anything. This is me. I'm making my own decisions now. I'm going away -'

  'Where?'

  'It doesn't matter where. When I'm settled and I'm in a better place, I'll let you know but until then -'

  'You can't. I won't let you! You ungrateful…after everything I've done for you!' She jumped up from the sofa, her eyes on fire with rage.

  'Don't,' I said, 'let's be honest for once. You'll be glad when I'm gone. You'll be free then, like you always wanted to be.'

  'Evelyn. Don't you dare. I forbid you -'

  'I'm going.'

  'I'll call the police.'

  'Call the police Mom. They won't stop me. I've made my mind up.'

  'This is all Josh's -'

  'Don't blame him. This is my decision.'

  'You won't survive. You won't get a penny from me.'

  'I don't want anything from you -'

  'You ungrateful little bitch.'

  'Cassie!' warned Josh.

  'It's okay,' I said. I loosed his hand. 'I can handle it.'

  'You!' screeched Cassie. 'You'll be back here in a few days, snivelling when you can't look after yourself.'

  'I know about the house,' I said.

  'What?'

  'I know it's mine, held in trust for me. Well, I give you my blessing. You can have it.'

  'Do you really think -'