Empyreal

by Helsel, Spencer

  The door to the Ward opened. Elder Aleister appeared. Dani practically bowled him over. “How is he?”

  “Resting.” He wiped his hands. “We were able to coax the toxins from his system.”

  “Toxins? I thought it was some kind of a curse.”

  “In our world, they are one and the same.” Aleister frowned. “He is not cured. I have never encountered such a poison. Whatever this is, it is very powerful.”

  “Will he die?”

  “It is contingent upon what the poison was meant to do and how well we fight it. The next few hours are critical.”

  Her heart sank. “Can I see him?”

  He nodded. “It would be good for him to have company. He comes and goes from consciousness, so be wary.”

  Dani went inside. The Ward was empty save for the healers. Nathaniel was their only patient. He lay on his back, his skin the same sickly pale color; sallow, almost jaundiced. She took a stool to his bedside.

  “Nathaniel?” she took his hand. “Nathaniel?”

  No response. His eyes stayed closed, but moved under the eyelids.

  She sat with him for a while. His sweat stained the sheets yellowgreen; his body trying to get the poison out. Dani kept her hand on his, praying silently for a miracle. She lost herself in thought. Time slipped away.

  A hand on her shoulder woke her from her trance. Ethan stood over her. She sighed heavily and rubbed her eyes. “How long has it been?”

  “An hour. You should go. I can stay.”

  “I want to be here when he wakes up.”

  He pulled over another stool. “What were you thinking about?”

  She shook her head. “Why was that thing there, Ethan? Why was it at the Hellfire Club? Do demons normally swing by?” Her sarcasm was bitter.

  “No. Judah may not be Numen, but he doesn’t serve demons. His club is protected.”

  “Then how? Why were we the unlucky ones it attacked?”

  “Dumb luck.” He told her. “It happens to all of us. We end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. That thing killed Titus. He was one of the greatest Guardians and it got him, too.”

  “But a demon that kills Numen just so happens to come when a large crowd of us show up at the club? It’s too much of a coincidence, isn’t it?”

  “What are you suggesting? Like I said, demons can’t get into Hellfire. Judah’s spells keep them out.”

  “Maybe it got by the spells. Maybe it did it before.”

  “Not possible.”

  But she knew. It bugged her why the demon looked so familiar. She’d seen it before and it came to her then. “That’s not true.”

  Ethan raised an eyebrow. “What?”

  “The first night—the first time at the Hellfire Club—the demon was there. I ran into it.” She’d been weaving through the crowd looking for Ethan when she bumped into it. She remembered the blood red eyes and teeth. “It’s been inside Hellfire.”

  “But Judah—.”

  “It was there Ethan.” Dani insisted. “I saw it.”

  A moan interrupted them. Nathaniel opened his eyes. The whites of his eyes were inflamed and yellow. His teeth were stained sickly green-black and he moaned in agony.

  “Nathaniel!” she hugged him fiercely. “You’re okay!”

  “What happened…?” he croaked, his voice hoarse. “I

  don’t…remember…”

  “Rest.” Ethan told him, leaning over Dani. “You’ve been poisoned. Can you recall anything about your attack?”

  His eyes moved from Dani to Ethan. His grip on her hand tightened. “You’re…together…” he murmured painfully. “You…and him…”

  Dani blushed ashamedly. “Nathaniel, that’s what we were talking about when that thing attacked us.”

  “Attacked us?”

  “You don’t remember? Try.” She encouraged, joking a little to lighten the mood, “What do you remember, Nate?”

  His eyes changed. One second he was Nathaniel, and then he wasn’t. His jaw tightened. His hand gripped like a vice. The look on his face suddenly became very un-Nathaniel-like. Feral.

  His other hand seized Dani by the throat. His grip was like iron. He pulled her towards him, inches from his face.

  “My name is not Nate!”

  Chapter Forty-Two Nathaniel shot up off the bed with a hand around her throat, choking her. Crisscrossing his skin were dark, black veins. They throbbed angrily underneath his ashen skin. They bled into his face; pulsing. His sallow eyes looked about to bleed. He choked the air out of her, shoving her into a pillar next to his bed.

  Ethan grabbed him around the body . “Nathaniel! Stop!” Nathaniel flung his head back and struck Ethan in the teeth. With one arm, he threw him into the wall. Ethan sunk to his feet, stunned, but rushed into him again. He collided with his charge, trying to take him, but Nathaniel seized Ethan by the throat, unable to go down.

  “You want to hurt me?” Nathaniel accused cruelly. “You chose him over me?”

  She coughed. “Nathaniel…!”

  He looked demonic.

  Ethan drew a knife from his belt and slashed his arm. The cut opened, but didn’t bleed. Still, it hurt enough to make him drop Dani.

  Ethan moved to stand between him and her. “Nathaniel, I’m warning you. Back down.”

  The expression on her friend’s face wasn’t his. A sinister smile played across his lips. The black veins pulsed darker. “Why? So you can take her from me again?”

  “She’s not yours to take.”

  “Nathaniel, this isn’t you!” She insisted. “Please, you’re my friend!”

  “He can’t hear you.” Ethan warned. “Whatever that demon did bewitched him.”

  “We can’t kill him!”

  “I’m trying not to.” He glanced back to Nathaniel. “Novice, I am your Guardian. I am instructing you not to attack.”

  Nathaniel’s voice was dark. “Why?”

  “Because I don’t want to kill you.” Two healers watched on in shock. “Go. Get help. You too, Dani.”

  “I won’t!”

  “Don’t tell her what to do!” Nathaniel growled. “She’s mine!”

  Nathaniel attacked. Dani backpedaled. Ethan swung the knife, but clearly he didn’t want to hurt Nathaniel any more than Dani did. His strike was slow. Nathaniel smashed his fist into Ethan’s temple, driving him to his knees. He kept hitting, drawing blood.

  “Nathaniel! Stop it!” she cried.

  He hit Ethan a fourth time. The knife dropped, clattering on the stone. Her friend glared up at her, black teeth bared. Grabbing Ethan by the hair, he flung him hard into the stone floor. He lay there, unmoving as Nathaniel stepped over him and came for Dani.

  She had two choices: fight or run. She didn’t want to hurt him and she needed to get him away from Ethan.

  So she ran.

  She burst from the Ward into the courtyard. Nathaniel leapt out behind her, arms wrapping around her. He flung her sideways. Dani landed hard on her hands, rolling across the stone. Pain shot up her arms and shoulders. She rolled over, but before she could get up, he was over her and pinning her wrists back onto the ground.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” his breath stank of brimstone. She gagged. “You think you can get away from me? After everything I’ve done for you?”

  She heard shouts and voices. “Please, Nathaniel, I’m trying to help you!”

  “Help me? I don’t need your help!”

  Footsteps. Someone was coming.

  “I own you!”

  Then Nathaniel shot off her. Mastema wrapped his arms around under Nathaniel’s shoulders, looping up around his neck and pinning his arms back. Her Guardians wrestled him away. Mastema groaned with effort, trying to hold him, but Nathaniel was strong. He began to break his hold.

  Dani felt her hands begin to burn. She held them up, the palms coursing with light. “Nathaniel! Please stop!”

  “Get off me!” he screamed ferally, swiping at Dani like an animal. “She’s mine!”<
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  Ethan appeared in the doorway; bloody, limping, holding the knife and hobbling towards them. He wouldn’t reach Mastema in time.

  One arm pulled free. Nathaniel clawed at her Guardian. “Let me go!”

  Tears stung her eyes. Dani held out her hands. “Nathaniel! Please! I’m begging you!”

  “I’ll kill you!” he screamed. “I’ll kill you!”

  The look in his eyes said it all. He writhed his way towards her like a rabid dog. Mastema drew his dagger. He wouldn’t let him hurt her. She had no choice. She wouldn’t let someone kill her best friend. She couldn’t.

  The energy surged to her hands. She had to do it.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Then she hit him with a blast of light.

  The brilliant energy struck Nathaniel, stopping him dead in his tracks. It wasn’t anger this time. It was love. She cared for Nathaniel. It hurt her to do this to him.

  His arms shot out. His eyes widened. The explosion knocked Mastema off. Through the luminescent rays of light, Nathaniel stared at her. His body shook violently. The anger seethed across his face, but then went slack. He screamed.

  Dani screamed too and poured her soul into it.

  Ethan covered Mastema as the lucent nimbus of energy exploded over them. The air shook. The beam pulsated through Nathaniel’s chest and in a violent eruption, shot him backwards. Tears blurred her vision and she squeezed them shut.

  Nathaniel landed on his back, blank eyes to the starry sky. Dani pulled back her power, screaming in pain. She squeezed her hands closed and the light vanished as he collapsed to her knees.

  Sudden darkness swept around them. Her hands sizzling. Nathaniel lay with arms splayed, unmoving; a red burn seared across his naked chest.

  Dani began to cry.

  Nathaniel was dead.

  A rush of armor and the sounds of weapons drawn, Gatekeepers arrived. They fanned out into a line, but stopped when they saw them.

  Mastema and Ethan stood slowly. Ethan staggered over to her. “Are you okay?”

  She sobbed. She couldn’t stop it.

  He wrapped her in his arms. “It’s okay.”

  She cried harder. Everyone else looked on. No one said a word.

  Then, with a lurch and painful groan, Nathaniel shot awake. Mastema, Ethan and Dani all jumped back. The soldiers’ swords came up.

  “Nathaniel?” Dani scrambled over. “Nathaniel!”

  He groaned. His skin was no longer sickly-yellow, but rosy, pink and flush. The black veins slowly melted away. When he opened his eyes, they were normal.

  “Wha—What happened?”

  Dani cried tears of joy and hugged him. “You’re okay!”

  “Dani…what’s going on?”

  She sniffed back tears. “You’re okay.”

  “Where am I?”

  “You don’t remember?” She couldn’t believe it. “You’re at the Ward in Empyrean. You were poisoned.”

  “Poisoned?” he shook his head.

  “It’s fine! It’s fine!” she gushed, and for the first time, it really was. “You’re safe now.” She’d never been happier to hug him, even if her hands hurt so badly to do it. “I thought I lost you.”

  He exhaled painfully. Ethan and Mastema helped him stand. “Yeah. Me too. I feel like I’ve been hit with a truck.”

  She was about to explain but caught the eye of Mastema and Ethan. Their expressions told her easily enough: say nothing. The look was nothing but fear. What Dani did scared them.

  “It’s not important.” Ethan told him. “What’s important is you’re alive.”

  Armor and swords clinked as Asaph burst through the wall of soldiers. “What is the meaning of this? I demand to know what is going on!” He drew his scimitar, pointing it at Nathaniel. “Get away from him!”

  “All is well!” Mastema said, raising his hands. “The danger is passed!”

  “We were told he attacked my healers.” Aleister said. “He was crazed.”

  “He’s fine.” Ethan told them. “It was the poison.”

  “Poison?”

  “The poison from the grail affected him; made him mad with rage. We were forced to stop him.”

  Asaph’s scimitar lowered.

  “I’m fine.” Nathaniel said sheepishly. “I’m okay now.”

  “How do we know if this is true?” Asaph asked, weapon still in hand. “We do not know what that demon did to him. He may still be possessed.”

  But Aleister held out his hand. “No. Look at him. He is not in any way affected. How did you cure him?”

  Dani was about to answer, but Ethan interrupted her. “The blow to the head dispelled the curse.”

  It was a terrible lie, even by Dani’s standards, but Elder Aleister didn’t argue. He only nodded in shock. Ethan’s eyes flicked to Dani. Again, nothing but fear there.

  Asaph huffed. “Elder Aleister? There is no danger?”

  “Nothing is certain,” Aleister said, “but the spell seems to have passed. We should get him back to the Ward. My healers can tell us more.”

  The Head Gatekeeper put up his sword. “Away with your weapons!”

  Immediately, every soldier withdrew their swords and spears.

  “Take him inside.” Aleister ordered. “Come. We must attend to this curse.”

  The healers took Nathaniel. Aleister was relieved. So was Dani. Mastema and Ethan seemed less enthusiastic.

  Asaph growled at them. “This commotion threw the entire city into a panic. You disrupted our patrols. My Gatekeepers pulled out of the Sanctuary Hills! You should exercise more caution.” He turned and stalked off.

  “Are you hurt?” Ethan asked.

  “Just a few scrapes and bruises. I’ll be fine. My Guardian trained me how to take a fall.”

  Mastema’s mouth twitched slightly. “That was an amazing feat, Novice Daniella.”

  “I know. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it. I think I acquired another gift. It’s how I saved you at the warehouse. I wasn’t sure exactly what it was but—.”

  “Please, refrain from speaking.” He said quickly, holding up a hand. “We should not talk of this. Not yet.”

  “What? Why? What did I do wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Then why are you acting like I did?”

  Both Guardians hesitated. They exchanged furtive looks; ones that made Dani nervous.

  “It’s not the right time.” Ethan cautioned. “We need to get you back across the Vale.”

  “What about Nathaniel?”

  “He will be fine. Right now, I’ll feel better if you were home.”

  Dani left with them. They walked from the Ward through the Keep. Her hands hurt, but weren’t burnt like before; no need for panacea.

  “I still don’t understand.” She shook her head, crossing the Vale Bridge with them. “What did I do? Is it some kind of healing power? But that wouldn’t explain how I destroyed a demon with it.”

  Both Guardians were silent, but their looks said it all.

  “What is it?” She demanded, jumping ahead and stopping them. “Stop walking, both of you! Whatever is going on, you’d better start talking. What is this thing because it’s freaking you out.”

  “Dani, not right now.” Ethan said.

  “No! No! No!” she stuck a finger in both their faces. “I’m tired of people telling me when is and when isn’t the best time for something! My friend almost died and I saved him. I want to know how!”

  Both of them were silent.

  “Fine. Then I’ll ask the Elders.” She tried to step by them. Mastema grabbed her arm. “Let go of me.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because if you tell the Elders, they will kill you.”

  The statement caught her off guard. “Kill me? What do you mean? You know what it is?”

  “I suspect what it might be. And it is not something you want them to know. Daniella, if the Elders discover your power, you will be a threat to them.”

&n
bsp; Ethan agreed. “He’s right. Please, Dani, don’t tell anyone until we know for sure. Just trust us—trust me. Keep it to yourself.”

  She did trust him. That was the problem.

  “We should return to the Arn.” Mastema advised. “The city is chaotic and this night disturbs me.”

  Dani rolled her eyes. “You’re so cheery. You should entertain at kids’ parties.”

  Her Guardian ignored her.

  The bright full moon overhead lit the way. Gatekeepers had pulled out of Sanctuary Hills, but the celebration of the end of the Trials continued. Gifted were out; singing, dancing, celebrating, a hillside of festivities.

  But Dani didn’t feel like celebrating. A s they crossed, something still bothered her. Even as they got to the other side and walked towards her home, she couldn’t get it off her mind.

  “Why poison Nathaniel?” she wondered aloud.

  “Hm?” Ethan cocked an eyebrow.

  “It’s the thing that keeps bothering me. Why not just kill him? The demon easily could have. Why didn’t it?”

  Ethan shrugged. “Torture you? Turn him on you?”

  Mastema shook his head. “I know at least a dozen other cursed elixirs that cause more torture, not to mention numerous spells. The demonic have crafted many effective methods of inflicting suffering. She makes a valid point.”

  They got to her house and took a seat in the pavilion. Dani was exhausted, but her mind wouldn’t shut up. “My point exactly. What did the demon want? Did it want us to kill Nathaniel? But that doesn’t make sense, either.”

  Ethan shrugged again. “Maybe it wanted Nathaniel to kill some of us.”

  “If that were the case,” Mastema frowned, dipping his hand into the fountain and cupping water for a drink, “it would have poisoned both you and Nathaniel. One cursed Novice could not kill that many. Asaph and his Gatekeepers would slay them before they could do much harm. There would be little reward for something so complicated.”

  “He still caused a ruckus.” Ethan pointed out.

  “Exactly.” Dani said. “So other than to piss off Asaph, I don’t see the point. And why attack us at the Hellfire Club? It’s super dangerous for demons and there’s nothing for them to get. All that’s there are golems, Judah and—.”