by Amy Cross
“When I heard that Tor Cliff had been destroyed,” Edgar replied, “I was certain you had something to do with it.”
“Actually, I think that was Abby,” she explained. “I was gone by then, I'd started my long journey home. And now...” Reaching out, she put a hand on his shoulder. “And now I'm here, Edgar. I dreamed for so long of hurting you, of making you pay for everything you did, yet now...” She paused again, before stepping closer and putting her arms around him, holding him tight. “If you weren't my brother,” she whispered, “I'd cause you such pain right now.”
“I'm sorry about Benjamin,” he replied. “I never got a chance to say that to you before, but... He was a good man.”
“I know.”
“There should have been a way to save him.”
“I know.” A tear ran down her cheek. “Of course, that was all ninety years ago. Even if he'd lived, he'd be dead by now. Humans really don't last long, do they? They're like mayflies, buzzing around us and then gone in the blink of an eye. You know, one day Kate -”
“I know,” he said firmly.
“I just wish the child had lived,” she continued, taking a step back. “At least then, there'd be something of him left, with a little of me mixed in for good luck.”
Edgar stared at her for a moment.
“What is it?” she asked. “Edgar, I swear, suddenly you look a little pale.”
“I...” He paused, as if he might be about to admit the truth. “Madeleine, I -”
Beneath them, the ground shuddered again.
“No matter,” he continued. “There will be time for that later. Right now, the end of Quillian's plan is coming into play. Do you recall how he began to wake Ashalla? The process took a long, long time, but tonight it's finally happening.”
“So a vast cold-blooded vampire god is waking up right beneath our feet?”
“It would seem so.”
“And he's likely to be angry, right?”
“Most certainly.”
“And you've got a plan?” She waited for a reply. “Edgar? Do you know how to stop this thing?”
“I...”
Again, she waited. “Edgar, tell me you've got a plan. Please, Edgar...”
“Ninety years ago,” he continued, “I felt certain that I would come up with something, but now -”
The ground shook again, more violently than before.
“So you've got nothing? You've had almost a decade to think about it, and you've still got no idea at all?”
“There has to be a way,” he replied. “I refuse to believe that Ashalla's return is inevitable.”
“What about the war?” she asked. “During the war, Ashalla was stopped. Or he was repelled, at least. Somehow he was sent fleeing from the plains around Gothos, he came here to Thaxos to hide. If we can't destroy him permanently, maybe we can make him run away again?”
“No,” Edgar said firmly, “that won't be enough. I want this to end, I want him gone for good.”
“Then you'd better come up with a plan,” she told him, as the ground trembled again, “and you'd better do it fast, because I think Ashalla sure as hell has a plan, and part of that plan most likely involves tearing this island apart and killing every living creature.” She took a step back. “If you don't come up with something, then I'll have to, and I'm sure we both realize that my plans usually have a whole lot of collateral damage.”
“There's one thing I don't quite understand about all of this,” Edgar replied. “When he was driven from the vampire war, Ashalla was burning. He was dying. He was also vast and powerful, so it makes no sense that he'd arrive here on Thaxos and immediately go into hibernation, yet... Quillian was so certain, so adamant. What if...” He paused, before turning to Madeleine. “What if the sequence of events isn't quite as we'd anticipated?”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning...” He paused. “Meaning I have to find a way to speak to the War Council.”
“The War Council? The Council of Gothos? Edgar, they died in the war, they've been gone for thousands of years!”
“I might still be able to reach them,” he replied. “I might be able to step back into the war, but there'd be no guarantee I could get back again.”
Madeleine stared at him for a moment. “Or I could do it.”
“No, absolutely not, there's no -”
“Think about it,” she continued. “If I could go back and speak to the War Council, I could relay their thoughts to you and then you'd still be here to act. We're siblings, Edgar, so our mental bond should be strong enough for that to work.”
“But you might be lost forever.”
“I always said I wanted to take part in the war,” she replied, swallowing hard. “The irony is, now I have chance, I...” She took a deep breath. “Well, maybe I shouldn't over-think things. I guess we don't have much time, Edgar, so how about you tell me how I can contact the council?”
***
“You know, Kate, one day you're going to do something really special.”
Looking up from her toys, Kate saw that her grandmother was smiling at her from the armchair in the corner of the room.
“Don't worry about it now,” the old woman continued. “I can just see it in you. You're drawn to greatness, but first there's something very important that you have to do.”
“What's that?”
“You have to wake up.”
Kate frowned. “I am awake.”
“No,” the old woman replied, shaking her head, “you're not. You're dreaming, and there's nothing wrong with dreams but sometimes you have to wake up and do what you were born to do. Kate, you're needed. Without you, a lot more people are going to die.”
Kate opened her mouth to ask what she meant, but for a moment she was distracted by her grandmother's necklace, glinting in the morning light.
“Grandmother,” she said finally, “what -”
Suddenly she gasped and sat up, as the dream shattered and she found herself on a cold slab in Edgar's basement. Panicking for a moment, she looked around, and a moment later she felt something slip from her hands. She looked down just in time to see a necklace dropping to the floor, and when she reached down and picked it up, she saw to her surprise that it was her grandmother's necklace, that one that had been lost all those years ago. She turned the necklace over in her hands, trying to work out what was happening, before spotting her grandmother's name engraved on one side.
“Elspeth,” she whispered.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to work out what was happening. The last thing she remembered was being at the lighthouse with Edgar and the others. She'd gone up to the top and found Edgar with Quillian, and then the lighthouse had collapsed, and then... She remembered falling, and she remembered feeling her bones shatter when she landed. Reaching down, she ran her hands across her chest and realized that somehow her body was already starting to heel. She still felt sore and pained, but she swung her legs over the side of the slab and got to her feet, before limping to the steps.
“Edgar!” she called out. “Nixon! Madeleine! Is anyone here!”
Gasping with pain, she nevertheless made her way up the steps until she emerged in the ruins of the mansion. All around, stone blocks lay scattered in the moonlight. She knew the house had been destroyed in a fire shortly before she'd traveled back in time, which meant...
“I'm back,” she whispered, feeling rain on her skin. She held out a hand and saw that her skin was still bruised and damaged. “I made it. I'm back!”
V
“The tide of the war is turning,” Cerulesis explained as she and the other strategists stood around the main map in one of the banquet rooms at Gothos. “Now that Ashalla has been driven back, we know how to defeat the last of the cold-bloods. It's only a matter of time before they're ground into dust.”
“We must not become too confident just yet,” Gothos replied, studying the map with a hint of concern in his eyes. “The priority must be to contain the war and ensure that in
their dying moments, the cold-bloods are not able to escape and regroup.”
“Sir!” a voice called out from the main door. “Lord Gothos, someone has arrived to seek an audience with you. She says it's urgent.”
“I have no time for audiences,” he replied. “Tell her to leave, Makho. Whoever she is.”
“She says her name is Madeleine Le Compte. She is the sister of Edgar.”
“Did we not already turn her away?” Gothos asked. “I distinctly recall young Madeleine attempting to enlist for the fight, but she was sent back to her family's ancestral home on Thaxos.”
“Yes, Sir,” Makho replied, with a hint of uncertainty, “but... That was the young Madeleine. I saw her myself, she was but a child. This time, she...” He paused. “Well, she -”
“Out of the way,” Madeleine muttered, pushing him aside as she made her way into the room. “Should I curtsy? Should I bow?” She stopped as she reached Gothos himself. “Huh,” she continued with a frown. “You're shorter than I expected.”
“Whatever you want,” Gothos told her, “I am afraid I -”
“I've come from a time long past this one,” she replied. “My brother Edgar knew a way to send me back. We need to determine the precise nature of Ashalla's escape from the war.”
“Escape?” Gothos frowned. “Ashalla has not escaped from the war. Ashalla died on the plains just beyond this house.”
“I don't think so,” Madeleine replied. “He found a way to flee, and he holed up under Thaxos.”
“This is simply not possible,” Cerulesis interjected. “We have all seen his corpse. It took ten thousand soldiers to even pierce his skin, and then he spent almost a century flailing and dying. We all heard his screams. When a creature believe itself to have attained immortality, its screams can tend to be rather... shrill.”
“I'm telling you,” Madeleine continued, “that Ashalla is going to find a way to escape the war and flee to the human world.”
“And I'm telling you,” Cerulesis replied, clearly annoyed, “that -”
“Calm down,” Gothos told them both, keeping his eyes fixed on Madeleine. “I would not usually allow an interruption of this nature, but I will make an exception today. Come, Ms. Le Compte, and let me show you something that I think will change your mind.” Gesturing for her to follow him, he led her past the others and up a set of steps that led to the window. “Did you really come from a time past this one?” he asked, lowering his voice. “Did you come from the days that follow the war?”
“You bet I did.”
“And how are those days? Does peace return to the seven worlds?”
“Yeah,” she replied. “I mean... Well, more or less. It's a little patchy, to be honest, and there are people who believe that far more than seven worlds exist, but I guess that's an argument for another day.”
Opening the main door, Gothos led her out onto the balcony. Night had fallen across the vast plains surrounding the house, and fires were burning in every direction, filling the sky with smoke. From the mountains in the distance, cries and mournful wails could be heard, while armies could be seen marching away, heading for the last pockets of cold-blood resistance.
“It's hideous and beautiful at the same time,” Madeleine whispered, momentarily mesmerized by the sight. “Whenever Edgar talked about the war, I always wondered what it was really like.” She sniffed the air. “What's that smell?”
“Blood,” Gothos replied. “The soil around this house is soaked in the blood of a billion soldiers.”
“Cool,” she muttered, before turning to him as he shut the door, leaving the pair of them alone on the balcony. “You have to believe me, Ashalla -”
“Ashalla is dead,” Gothos said firmly, stepping past her. “That is why I brought you out here. Whatever is happening in the world from which you have come, it cannot be the resurrection of Ashalla. Look to the east, Madeleine, and you will see why.”
Turning, she frowned for a moment, seeing nothing but a vast plain stretching to the horizon. After a few seconds, however, she realized there was a huge, dark shape covering a significant part of the plain.
“What is that?” she asked, taking a step forward.
“That is the corpse of Ashalla,” Gothos replied. “I stood here myself and watched him advance on this house. I thought for a moment that he would crush us all, but then I saw him brought down. You might think he is being resurrected on Thaxos, but that simply is not the case.” He paused. “I can take you closer if you don't believe me, but that is most definitely Ashalla's corpse, and there is no chance of him being brought back to life. Even now, his body is being slowly consumed by scavengers. It was not easy to kill him, but in doing so we learned a great deal, and now we have pushed the cold-bloods back.”
“But...” She stared at the huge corpse for a moment, before turning to Gothos. “Is that's Ashalla, then what the hell is waking up beneath Thaxos in the future?”
“Is it possible,” Gothos continued, “that you are simply mistaken? Perhaps some other creature took refuge beneath the island.”
“No,” she replied, “that's impossible. Quillian was absolutely certain. He said he searched for Ashalla after the war, and he finally found him beneath Thaxos. Quilian would never have made a mistake on that scale.”
“Then none of this makes sense,” Gothos replied, “unless...” Pausing, he stared out at the corpse of Ashalla for a moment, before turning back to her. “Unless we're looking at this the wrong way around.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think I understand now,” he continued, “but you must hurry. You must return to Thaxos and make sure that your brother does not make a terrible mistake.”
***
“Estella!” Nixon shouted, making his way along the dark, rain-swept street. “Estella, where are you? I know you can hear me! I need your help! Estella, I -”
Turning suddenly, he found that she was standing right behind him. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words caught as he saw the tortured, angry energy in her eyes. It had been ninety years since the last time he'd seen her, and the intervening years had clearly filled her with more bitterness than ever.
“Estella,” he continued, taking a step back, “I need your help.”
“I'm busy,” she replied, tilting her head slightly. “In case you hadn't noticed, things have rather come full circle. I have to deal with this matter once and for all. I have to get Edgar back.”
“I need you to save Alice Marco for me,” he told her. “Estella, please, I'm desperate, I'll give you anything. Whatever you want, just name your price, but I need you to give her a body again and save her mind from whatever's after her. There are these things, I don't know exactly what they are, but they seem to live in the void beyond death and their clawing at the edge of her mind. I'm worried they're going to break through and flood into this world, and if that happens, she'll be lost forever.”
“And why should I help you?”
“Because of everything I did to try to help you,” he replied. “Estella, please, you must remember that I was on your side, at least at the start. I gave you advice, and if you'd followed that advice, things would have turned out very differently.”
“You still turned against me in the end.”
“Estella, you have to look at things rationally. The past is the past, it's over, you can't dwell on it or try to change what happened. You have to look to the future. There's no point dwelling on Edgar all the time, that part of your life is over!”
She shook her head.
“Please, Estella, I need you to help me. I need to get Alice back. I'll do anything in return.”
“Anything?”
“Estella -”
“Would you really do anything?” she asked, with a faint smile. “Is Alice Marco really so important to you that you'd, for example, betray a friend in order to get her back?”
“I...” He paused. “You mean Edgar?”
“Think carefully, Nixon. The a
nswer you give me might very well determined the course of your remaining years.”
He stared at her, before slowly shaking his head.
“Edgar always treated you like a fool,” she continued. “You were his lap dog, at least until he tore that side of your soul away, and after that you were just some pathetic runt scurrying around in his mansion, too terrified to leave. You're a smart man, James, you could achieve great things, but instead you sit on Edgar's sofa and you read Edgar's book and you live your life completely in his shadow. I know people say that I'm unnaturally attached to him, but you're even worse. You're too much of a coward to be your own man.”
“I have to stay here,” he stammered. “Estella, you don't know what my life was like before I came to Thaxos. There are things that are after me, things that would kill me if they got the chance. They won't come to Thaxos, they're too scared, but if I leave, or if I lose Edgar's protection...” He paused. “You have no idea what they're like.”
“Would it not be better to die with honor, rather than whimpering with fear on this miserable rock?”
“Edgar gave my full soul back to me,” he replied .”The wolf is within me again. He didn't have to do that!”
“Oh, well isn't he generous? What a good friend! He actually deigned to let you be yourself!”
“Estella,” he continued, “please, don't ask me to work against Edgar. Anything but that.”
“So if it comes down to a choice,” she replied, “between Edgar and Alice, you would choose to remain loyal to Edgar? Even if, by doing so, you lost Alice Marco forever?”
“I...” He paused. “Estella, please...”
“Imagine the alternative,” she told him. “Imagine leaving Thaxos forever and taking Alice with you. The pair of you could explore the world, you could explore other worlds. You always wanted to visit the Great Library, did you not? Imagine taking Alice there, imagine walking the aisles with her, imagine going to other places. Imagine a happy life with the woman you love, and imagine her loving you in return.” She stepped around him, stopping to lean over his shoulder. “And all you have to do, to get all of that, is help me strike back at Edgar and Kate.”
