by Amy Cross
“Stop talking!” Madeleine and Kate both told him.
“Did you feel that?” Estella asked. “The ground is trembling. Whatever's happening down there, it's accelerating.”
“So we just have to explain it all to Edgar,” Kate pointed out. “We have to make him see what's really happening, but how do we get down there?”
“We don't,” Madeleine said, stepping to the very edge of the pit. “I hope this rope is long enough. It probably isn't, but I should still be able to get down the rest of the way and warn him. He might not listen, not right away, but I'll damn well make him pay attention. Okay, now we -”
Before she could finish, the ground shook beneath her feet, knocking her back.
“The whole island's going to be destroyed!” Estella shouted, struggling to stay upright. “If Ashalla rises, he'll split Thaxos in two!”
“Well, come on,” Madeleine replied with a faint smile, “I mean... It's only one island. It wouldn't be the end of the world if it sank, would it? There has to be -”
Stopping suddenly, she turned and looked across the ruined church, toward the dark town square.
“Did any of you,” she said cautiously, “hear that?”
“Hear what?” Kate asked, stepping toward her.
“Edgar's in danger of changing the course of the vampire war,” Madeleine continued, taking a step forward as she saw dark shapes moving through the shadows. “There are other forces, other creatures out there, that might take an interest in that. Creatures that live around the vents at the end of time... There are legends that they sometimes come back and take corrective action if they perceive there to be a threat to history. They don't like change.”
“You're joking, right?” Kate replied, spotting something dark flitting through the night sky. “Madeleine, tell me you're joking.”
“They don't even have a name,” Madeleine replied. “They just exist, and it's said that they...”
Her voice trailed off as her eyes filled with horror. More and more of the dark shapes were crawling through the ruins, edging closer.
“They what?” Kate asked, as the ground shook again. “Madeleine, what do they do?”
“They put things right,” Nixon said, stepping forward. “They make sure that events happen as they should, one way or another. Their preferred method, so the legends state, is a kind of scorched-earth policy. They destroy everything they see as a threat, then they cauterize the wound, and then they set things back on-course. Good for the world in general, bad for anyone who gets caught up in it. Madeleine's wrong about one thing, though. In some cultures, these creatures do have a name, even though their role and nature is profoundly misunderstood.”
“Alright, smarty-pants,” Madeleine muttered, “what are they called, then?”
“Some call them fate, some call them destiny,” he replied. “I should have known they'd show up, I should have...” He paused, his eyes widening with horror. “Alice! This is what Alice was talking about! She said there were creatures in the darkness, creatures that had noticed what was happening on Thaxos. She must have been referring to these things! One way or another, they'll do anything in their power to stop Edgar. They'll wipe him from existence, and us too, and put history back on track!”
“Unless we stop him first,” Madeleine added. “That would definitely be preferable to getting burned from existence, and we could -”
Suddenly one of the dark shapes rushed at her, snapping a tendril around her waist and pulling her to the ground. She let out a cry of pain as the creature's flesh burned into her flesh, and although she struggled to get free, she couldn't keep herself from being dragged across the ground.
“Keep her out of the shadows!” Nixon shouted, racing forward and grabbing Madeleine's hand just before she disappeared from view. “If the legends are true, these things draw their victims into the shadows and then wipe them from existence. They'll try to do it to all of us and then they'll go for Edgar too.” He strained, struggling to hold onto Madeleine; a moment later, Estella rushed over and took her other hand.
“We have to get to Edgar!” Kate shouted.
“Hurry!” Nixon yelled.
“But...” Kate paused. “Me?”
“Move!” Nixon shouted. “Kate, there's no time!”
Turning, Kate looked down into the dark pit for a moment. Spotting movement nearby, she saw that another of the dark creatures was edging closer. After looking back and watching for a moment as Nixon and Estella struggled to pull Madeleine clear, she realized she only had once choice.
Slowly, cautiously, she grabbed hold of the rope began to climb down into the pit. The sides were rough and slippery, and the ground rumbled a couple of times, almost as if it was trying to knock her free. Hearing a scream from above, she looked up, worried about Madeleine only to see one of the dark tendrils curling above, silhouetted against the night sky. Making her way a little further down into the pit, she had to force herself to stay calm as she chose her footing carefully.
“Edgar!” she called down into the darkness. “Edgar, can you hear me?”
She kept going, determined to reach him, before finally the ground shook again. Losing her footing, she tried to hold onto the rope and the wall but with no luck. Instead, she fell into the darkness, screaming as she tumbled further and further down.
II
Alone in a darkened room, the severed head of Alice Marco let out another groan. Its mouth was wide open, and slowly another of the dark creatures began to crawl out, emerging from a far-off world and then crawling to the door, making its way toward the church.
***
“Evacuate!” Lazare shouted, waving for people to hurry along the jetty. “Children first! Get them onto the boats!”
“This is never going to work,” Suzanne said, standing next to him, as the island shuddered again. “It'll take hours to get everyone off Thaxos.”
“At least we can save the children,” he replied, lifting a crying boy down into the ferry. “After that we'll get the women away, and then the elderly, and finally everyone else.”
“If Thaxos splits, it'll take us all with it,” Suzanne continued, helping a little girl down the steps to the waiting boat. “It'll be as if the island was never here in the first place.”
“One more to go,” Lazare said, helping a woman down the steps with a child in her arms. He turned and looked back along the jetty and then, realizing that all the children were on the boat, he glanced back down and waved at the ferry's captain. A moment later, the ferry's engines roared into life and the boat began to move away from the jetty, heading to the mainland.
“How long will it take to get back to us?” Suzanne asked.
“Too long,” Lazare replied as the island shook again. Turning to her, he tried to find some words of comfort, even as he heard and felt a vast creaking movement stretching out across the island. “We need a back-up plan. We can't just let this island crumble beneath our feet.”
***
Letting out a gasp of pain, Kate tried to sit up, although a sharp, shuddering agony immediately arced through her shoulder. She knew she was hurt, that she'd most likely broken several bones in the fall, but she also knew she couldn't let anything stop her. Despite the pain, she struggled to her feet and then took a step forward, before looking around and realizing that she'd landed far down in the pit on some kind of ledge. The only light came from below, as a kind of flickering orange glow rose up from the depths.
“Edgar?” she called out, stepping over to the edge and looking down. “Edgar, are you -”
Stopping suddenly, she saw flames curling up from the darkness below. Whatever was down in the depths, it seemed to be slowly rising, bringing an inferno as it forced its way through the island. A moment later, she heard a thick splitting sound and turned just in time to see that the rock-face nearby was in the process of cracking, bringing down a brief shower of stones. Shielding her head with her arms, she waited until the stones had stopped falling, and then she lo
oked back down into the pit.
And then she saw him.
About twenty meters down, clinging to the wall, a figure was struggling to get further into the pit. Unable to see the figure's face, she still knew exactly who she'd found.
“Edgar!” Kate shouted, dropping to her knees and cupping her hands around her mouth, desperate to make him hear her. “Edgar, stop! Edgar, I'm up here!”
The figure continued to climb down, as if the cracking, splitting sound from below kept him from hearing her.
“Edgar!” she yelled at the top of her voice. “Stop!”
Realizing that he was too far down to be reached, she looked around for a moment, hoping to see something, anything, she could use to get his attention. After a moment, she realized that there was nothing, but at the same time she couldn't help remembering all the times Edgar had reached out to her with his mind. She knew that he'd only been able to do that because of his particular abilities, and she felt certain that there was no way she could reach out to him in return, but at the same time she figured she had to try. Still on her knees, she closed her eyes and began to concentrate, trying to reach out to him.
Nothing.
“Please, Edgar,” she whispered, “you have to hear me.”
She had no idea how to reach his mind, but she focused her thoughts on his voice, trying to recreate the sense of connection that she'd felt whenever he'd entered her thoughts. After a moment, she realized she could feel a vast, dark emptiness all around, as if she was managing to reach out but was finding only a void. Figuring that Edgar was simply too far away, she tried again, concentrating on the idea of being able to reach his mind, trying desperately to remember how it had felt the last time they'd talked in her mind.
“Edgar,” she whispered, starting to feel a faint, murmuring pain in her thoughts, “please...”
“Go!” a voice shouted in her head, knocking her back against the ledge.
“Edgar?” she said out loud.
“This is my fight,” he replied, his voice echoing in her thoughts. “You have no right to be down here! Leave!”
“It's not...” She paused, before crawling back to the edge. Looking down, she realized Edgar was now so far down, she could barely see him at all. “Edgar, you have to listen to me, the truth is -”
“Don't lecture me on this,” he said firmly. “You know nothing about what's happening here.”
“Edgar, listen -”
“You're just a human,” he continued. “You can't possibly understand any of this.”
“Edgar, you're wrong! If you go down there and try to stop Ashalla, one of two things will happen. Either you'll fail and die for no reason, or you'll succeed and change the course of the vampire war. Edgar, Ashalla isn't being resurrected from beneath Thaxos, he's being born! You have to let him go!”
She waited for a reply.
“Edgar, can you hear me?”
“You're wrong,” he replied. “Quillian said -”
“Quillian was a fool,” she told him. “These things have arrived on Thaxos, I don't know what they are but Nixon says they come from the end of time, they want to make sure you don't change history. Edgar, you have to let Ashalla go so that he can travel to the war, which is where you'll fight him. He did die that day on the plains outside Gothos, it all happened exactly the way you thought. Edgar, please don't let anger blind you to the truth!”
She waited.
“Edgar?”
“You made a mistake coming down here, Kate,” his voice replied, sounding a little fainter now in her mind. “I'm sorry, I can't save you. There's nothing I can do, you're going to have to save yourself.”
“Oh,” she replied, starting to feel annoyed at his refusal to listen, “I am, am I?” She paused, before seeing that Edgar, far below, seemed to have reached another ledge overlooking the flames at the bottom of the pit. Getting to her feet, clutching her injured shoulder, she took a deep breath as she realized that there was no way she could climb back up, and no way she was willing to give up so easily.
The walls of the pit shuddered for a moment, and another thick crack began to split the rocks.
“Fine,” she said, taking a couple of steps back, “maybe you can't save me, Edgar, but...” She took a deep breath. “Maybe I can save you.”
With that, she ran to the edge and jumped, tumbling through the darkness and falling until, a few seconds later, she slammed into the ledge below. Crying out, she felt bones breaking in her shoulder, sending ribbons of pain through her body. There was no time to focus on that pain, however, so she began to get to her feet. Feeling more pain in her waist, she let out a gasp and paused for a moment, before sensing someone nearby. Looking up, she saw Edgar standing over her, his body torn and damaged.
“Kate,” he began, “what are you -”
“I came to stop you,” she told him, forcing herself to her feet even though the pain was immense. “Madeleine and Nixon and Estella are up there, desperately trying to hold those things back, but there isn't much time. Edgar, you have to face the fact that the war is over. There's no need to fight, you just have to let Ashalla go now. The more you fight, the more you risk destroying everything.”
“You don't know what you're talking about,” he replied. “Ashalla is one of the great cold-blooded vampire gods, it would be a travesty if I didn't do everything in my power to defeat him.”
“Edgar -”
“You're just a human,” he snarled, stepping toward her. “How dare you try to tell me what I should do? You know nothing about the world I inhabit, apart from a few glimpses you've managed to sneak at the sidelines. You never experienced the war, you never saw Ashalla on the great plain, you never faced -”
“Edgar -”
“You know nothing!” he shouted, pushing her back against the wall and leaning closer, baring his fangs. “You're just like all humans, you think it's your place to interfere with the affairs of others, but all you see is your own pathetic, small world. There are things I could tell you about the nature of the universe, Kate, that would drive you to insanity. There are things I've seen, that would shred your mind and leave you sobbing on the ground, unable to ever put together another coherent thought again. There are levels of pain I've endured that would kill you in an instant.” He paused, as the ledge shuddered beneath their feet. “I was a fool to think we could ever see the world in the same way. A vampire can't let a human into his world. It would be like a whale trying to marry an amoeba.”
Staring at him, she waited for him to sink his teeth into her neck. After a moment, however, he took a step back.
“I can't save you,” he continued. “I'm sorry, but I can't.”
“Maybe I can save you,” she replied, her voice trembling with fear.
He shook his head.
“You can't stop Ashalla,” she told him. “I... I won't let you.”
“You won't let me?” he replied, as if he was amused by the idea. “You, a human, intend to stand in the way of me? Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?”
“I've been on Thaxos for a while now,” she pointed out. “I've kind of come to realize that crazy things happen every day.”
“I don't have time for this,” he said, turning and looking down into the pit of fire.”I only -”
Before he could finish, a vast wall of flames burst up, knocking him back until he fell to the ground and landed next to Kate. The rock-face began to buckle, shifting up as it was torn apart, and finally the ledge began to rise as something vast and powerful pushed its way up from beneath the island.
“Edgar!” Kate shouted, clinging onto a section of rock that was already tipping to one side and starting to slide, grinding against what was left of the wall.
Struggling to stay on his feet, Edgar made his way to the edge and looked down, only to see that a huge shape was pushing up, crashing through the pit as it made its way toward the surface. With flames all around, Edgar turned and saw that Kate was just about managing to hold on, and fi
nally they were pushed back up to the top of the pit and knocked over the edge. Tumbling to the ground, Edgar scrambled to his feet and looked over just in time to see Kate doing the same.
“Edgar!” Nixon shouted from nearby. “Let him go!”
“Never,” Edgar whispered, as the whole island trembled beneath his feet. Stepping closer to the edge of the pit, he stared up as a vast, bloody mass of flesh and bone tore its way through the ruins of the church, rising higher and higher into the night sky.
“Now that,” Madeleine said, still struggling to keep from being pulled into the shadows, “is kind of impressive.”
“Edgar!” Estella shouted, hurrying forward. “Get back!”
“Face me,” Edgar said darkly, watching as Ashalla continued to rise from beneath the island. “I dare you to face me once again.”
“Again?” a voice boomed in his head, knocking him back. “If I had faced you before, I would remember. If I had faced you before, you would not have lived to see this day.”
As the flames grew, Edgar stepped forward, staring up and seeing two vast, burning red eyes shimmering in the wall of heat.
“Edgar!” Kate shouted, crawling away from the inferno. “Get back!”
“I will never step away from a fight,” Edgar said firmly. “This creature -”
“You annoy me,” the voice said suddenly, echoing in his mind. “I will no longer tolerate you.”
Before he could say another word, Edgar was struck by a wall of flame, sending him staggering back until he collapsed against a pile of stones. Racing over to him, Kate quickly put out the flames that were burning on his skin, but she could immediately tell that he was badly hurt. Turning, she looked up and saw that the vast wall of fire and flesh seemed to be twisting now as it rose higher above the island.
