The Immolation of Eve

by Helen Fields

  We rode for about an hour until I could feel the muscles in my legs and backside starting to pull. We'd come down the far side of the ridge to the river's edge and James reined in his horse to a stop. Tempest did the same. He was incredibly good natured. I'd passed the time in contemplation and barely noticed how far we’d come. He helped me down and led the animals to water. When they were safely tied to a log he sat down in the long grass and held out a bottle of water. I stood sipping and watching him from the corner of my eye as he relaxed in the sunshine. His large hands showed the physical work he did and he was slim and well-toned. I guessed that riding kept him as fit as any gymnasium. He was just about the quietest man I'd met in my life. I coughed once very gently to get his attention but he didn't move a muscle.

  'Is there some sort of plan for the afternoon? I do have other things that need my attention, you know.' He didn't answer immediately so I just kept on talking even though I wished I could stop. He just wasn't bringing out the best in me. 'I'm sure that when Sabina asked you to give me a riding lesson she didn't plan on you sunbathing for half an hour in the middle of it.' He sat up so that he rested back on his elbows and met my eyes with a level stare. His voice was only just audible over the babble of the river.

  'And I'm sure that she would want me to rest her horses after an hour's climb so that they don't get injured. They need time to drink and rest their muscles. If you'd like to report me for taking a break at the same time then you should feel free to do that. Otherwise, may I suggest that you give your own legs, and perhaps also your voice, a rest as well?'

  Properly chided I sat down next to him, stretched my aching limbs then lay back in the grass. 'Listen, I don't know why I'm behaving so badly. I guess I like to be in control.' I waited to see if he would bother conversing with me and put an arm over my eyes.

  'It didn't look like you were in control with that man last night.' I couldn't deny that. I was virtually on my knees to Perun.

  'Yeah, well, he has something I want.' I opened my eyes again to find that he'd rolled onto one side and propped himself on his elbow, staring down at me.

  'What would that be?' His eyes searched mine and for a moment I thought he was going to reach out and touch me.

  'He knows how I can find my mother,' I replied. James didn't move but he turned his head and looked away from me.

  'That must give him an awful lot of power over you. Aren't you scared?' I thought about it for a moment.

  'A bit, but more than that I just want to see her. I've never met her. It's all a bit, um, complicated.' The skies overhead were darkening and the wind had picked up. It was nearing four o'clock and although rain hadn't been forecast it was obviously on its way.

  'Don't get upset, there's no need,' he said.

  'I'm not upset. I just need to make some decisions.' I stood up. I'd come close to confiding in this stranger and the last thing I needed was more complications. 'Are the horses rested enough yet, only we should probably be getting back?'

  'The horses are just fine where they are. You're getting wound up for no good reason. Take a breath.' He held one hand out to me and I took a step away from it.

  'I don't know why you think I'm getting upset but I can assure you I'm not. I’d like to get moving again, is that okay?'

  'Not while you're like this. Look at that sky. You're going to bring on a storm if you're not careful.' The sky was looking threatening but I was in no mood to be told to calm down. 'Control yourself, Eve. Let me help you.' He took a step forward again and I avoided his touch. I felt sick to the stomach and my head was spinning. I tripped on a tree root and went down on my side before I could catch myself.

  'Goddammit!' I screamed. Thunder rumbled across the mountains and I grabbed at my ankle, burning with pain from the twist. James bent to see the damage but the last thing I wanted was help from him. 'Leave me alone.'

  'No,' he said. He knelt and lifted the ankle in spite of my protests and raised it onto his knee while he pulled off my boot. It was swelling already. 'We need to get you back. It's not broken but you should get some ice on it. Put your arms round my neck, I'm going to lift you back onto the horse.' I ignored the offer and tried to stand on my own. It was infuriating, being dependent on him, especially when he was the reason I'd fallen in the first place. I felt my anger start to boil. As it did a bolt of lightning hit the trees above us followed by a crash in the woods close by.

  'Eve, I know you're confused but you need to listen to me right now. You're causing this storm, you have to calm yourself down.' Rain had started to pour and the temperature was dropping. I was trapped in the mountains with a man I barely knew and he was scaring me. I grabbed the nearest stick and pointed it at him like a dagger.

  'Leave me alone,' I screamed. 'You don't know anything about me. Just get back on your horse and go; I'll find my own way back to the ranch. I don't know who you are or what you want but you sure as hell didn't turn up here out of the blue.' I was ready to swing the branch and do as much damage as I could. The rain was so heavy now that we were both soaked to the skin.

  He turned his head and I followed his eye line. The river was rising dangerously fast. He left me and sprinted for the horses, untying them both and hitting them hard on their hind quarters so they galloped beyond the reach of the water and away from us.

  'Are you trying to kill us?' I screeched, hobbling towards him. 'You can't let them go! How the fuck are we supposed to get home? Is this what you wanted, to get me into the woods alone? You’re going to tell me who you are and what you want, right now.’ He strode up and grabbed my arms, holding me fast and shouting to make himself heard above the gushing torrent. 'I'm exactly who I've said I am and I'm not sure what you are but I do know this. If an incubus wants you then you are in a lot more trouble than you can imagine. You have to control your emotions right now because this storm will take us to a place I don't want to go.'

  'Stop saying that! It’s insane. This is not my fault!'

  'I don't care if you believe me or not, just get a grip before it's too late.' I started to scream, well beyond reason or comprehension. The river had burst its banks and I didn't care. I wouldn't have cared if it carried me away. My world had spiralled out of control and the worst of it was that I knew every word James said was true. I wasn't meant to be here, someone had been given my place in a world that should have been my home. The pain was unbearable. I could still see James but it was like watching through a telescope, he was separated from me by a dimension and I felt like I was being ripped away. I held out my hand to him, throwing down the stick away I'd been brandishing. Too late I tried to control the tide of my emotions.

  'Eve, don't do it, you can still stop this.' I felt James throw his arms around me and I fell backwards with him clutching me as if I were nothing more than a rag doll, a sick merry-go-round sensation invading my head.

  I stared into his eyes, and the world was a blur. 'What's happening? James? Don't leave me. Don't let me go.' Then there was only darkness and silence.

  Sixteen

  Light was flooding into my head as if I were racing through a tunnel. I was in exactly the same place as when I’d lost consciousness except there was no evidence of the storm’s destruction. The river had subsided and sunshine burnt through the clouds. I tentatively moved my head to one side but felt no pain where I’d expected to find myself black and blue. James lay to one side of me and I scrambled over to him, hands on his throat to check for a pulse. His heartbeat was strong and he was breathing normally, so I left him to walk to the river bank. There was no sign of the horses and I prayed they’d found their way safely back to the ranch, for Sabina's sake. I drank from the river, the water cold and clear, with none of the mud that must have washed down from the mountain top. The whole place was untouched. All the tension had lifted completely and I felt as if I’d slept for hours. James was starting to come round and I went to sit by his side, stroking his forehead with a cool hand and studying his face properly for the first time. It was tan
ned and symmetrical but made beautiful by the tiny lines around his eyes. His mouth was a soft line in contrast to the square jaw and straight eyebrows. I ran a finger over his lips and jumped as his mouth opened to draw in a sharp breath. He sat up, hands running over his body to check for the injuries that should have been there, exactly as I had done.

  'Are you hurt?' I asked. He stared at me, as if I were a stranger.

  'You don't know where you are, do you?' His voice had returned to its customary softness but had taken on a sadness that made me ache. He stood in one fluid motion and held his hand out to me. I took it and let him pull me up. 'This is where he promised to bring you. They call it Manitu, their word for the spirit of nature. You called down a storm and brought us here. I hadn't realised how little you knew about it all. I'm sorry, I thought I'd be able to keep you safe and now it's too late.'

  'But we haven't gone anywhere, it's all the same as it was. And we're both fine, uninjured. I don't understand what you’re talking about. You called him an incubus, just before the storm knocked us out. Do you know Perun? Can you help me find my mother?' I saw tears form in his eyes but they didn't fall. 'James?' I whispered, but he'd recovered his equilibrium already.

  'I don't know Perun but I know his kind. They are the Perelesnyk, a race of incubus and succubus that take their power from humans for their own ends. They seduce people to control them but it's not about sex at all, it's about possession. Whatever he wants, it certainly isn’t to help you. I’ll do all I can to help you but right now we need to find a way back. This is a shadow world we're in. It may look the same as ours but it doesn’t belong to humans and there’s no safe place here for us. If we stay too long we won't be able to get back, at least not with our sanity in place.'

  'James, I can't go. If this is where Perun wanted to take me then this is where my mother is. He said my people were the Vilya and that my mother is dying. This may be my only chance to see her. I have to find her. Please?'

  'I don’t believe your mother would’ve sent an incubus as a messenger. There are many different races here who desire power exactly as we do. You don’t want to end up in the middle of it. If Perun was so keen to help you find your mother then you need to find out what he had to gain from it. I'll help you, but you have to repay that help with some trust. Can you do that?' I nodded and smiled at him. 'You look like them, I should have seen it before.' He held my face in his hands and studied me like a new species. For a second I thought he was about to kiss me but he dropped his hands and bent to pick up his water bottle. 'Come on, we need to find shelter. This place may look idyllic but it's wilder than you know.' He walked ahead of me through the woodland until we came to a path. The landscape was familiar in shape but it was as if the colours had been set too high on a monitor, everything was sharper and brighter than before and after a while it hurt your eyes. The sound of footsteps approaching from behind took us both by surprise. James reached out and pulled me down in the undergrowth. Seconds later three young males sprinted along the path past our hiding place. We lost sight as they rounded a bend leading up into the next hill. They had been carrying animals slung over their backs, the kills of a recent hunt. Their hair was long and their skin the deep tan colour of constant outdoor living. I felt more wonder than fear but James' face was less certain. After a few minutes of stillness and silence it seemed safe to move again.

  ‘Wait, how do you know where we're going or even if we're going in the right direction?' We were in uncharted territory without so much as a compass. I was starting to sense the enormity of what we were trying to do.

  ‘If you've ended up here it's because this is where Perun wanted you to be and if he wanted you to see your mother then she's nearby. Think back. How did you come to be in Carmel, with Sabina? Nothing is accidental. He helped you find this place, didn't he? Bit by bit he's influenced your movements. All we can hope is that he doesn't find us before we find her. After that you’ll need to find a way to reopen the doorway you dragged us through and get us home. Whatever you were when you were born, you are more human now than them. Let's get moving before we lose the light. Take my hand.' I did. It was warm, strong and I drew the strength I needed to walk for the next two hours until the first stars showed. In the valley below I could smell wood smoke like earthy perfume rising up the mountain’s sides and see distant firelight.

  'What do we do now? I'm not sure I'd know my mother even if she appeared right in front of me.'

  'We'll have to go down there, watch and listen, find out what we can. Until we know we're safe we have to stay out of sight.'

  'Won't they know we’re there? Since I got here my senses have been running on overdrive. Aren't theirs the same?'

  'Not if they're feasting. They have an ability to lose themselves in a way that humans can't unless they're drunk or drugged. They won't be on their guard, as far as we know they’ve got no reason to think we’re here.'

  I stared at James. 'You've been here before. But you said you were human. Are you one of them?'

  The bitterness in his voice was enough to stop me asking questions. 'I'm nothing like them. I’ve been here before, against my will, and I paid too high a price for leaving. We're running out of time. Let's get moving.' He shouldered his back pack and left the mountain path, going directly through the woods. The slope was steep but at least it was sheltered. The going was slow. I was constantly stopping myself from slipping and painfully aware of every twig snapping underfoot. After a while the glow of the fires was much closer and I could smell the meat cooking on the spits. In spite of the danger, the food made my mouth water and I felt famished. Everything was more powerful here, the colours, the light and my response to it all. Nagging at the back of my mind was the fear that going back to the world where I belonged was something I might not be able to achieve, or even want, for very much longer.

  James' hand across my mouth stopped me daydreaming before I walked straight out into a clearing. He pressed my body back against a tree and I nodded to show that I would stay still. A circle of women were before us, silently chopping great platters of fruit. As we watched they finished their work and began taking the food along a small pathway leading to a fire. We’d come closer to the group than we’d realised. The women were attractive and petite but they looked strong. I yearned to touch them, to see if their skin felt the same as mine. As the last of them started along the path the woman at the very back of the line stopped in her tracks and turned round. Just in front of her someone else glanced over her shoulder and called out but she waved her on and returned to the clearing. She set down the platter she'd had on her shoulder and cleared up the discarded fruit peelings and stones from the ground. When the line of women was completely out of sight she looked towards the place where James and I were hiding.

  'What is it that scares you so much you will not show yourselves? You have nothing to fear here.' Neither of us moved or answered. She waited to see if we would come out and then moved directly in front of the bushes. 'I am Ellette from the family of Vilya. I will not harm you. I know you are there, strangers. Let me see you.' James released his hold on me and I went slowly out. As I moved closer I saw her eyes widen briefly in surprise and then narrow with suspicion. She took a step back and raised one hand defensively.

  'You cannot be here. We did not bring you. Which of the families has done this?’ She regained her confidence and took a step in my direction. James stepped between us, sensing the rising conflict. I was too shocked by her reaction to do anything but freeze, open mouthed.

  James put up both his hands in a gesture of compliance. 'We're here by chance and no-one but you knows it. I am James and this is Eve. We need help and a passage of safe return to our own world. If you know a way to help us we will do all we can to leave without upsetting your family.'

  Ellette didn’t take her eyes off me to even acknowledge that James had spoken. 'She does not come here by chance, not now. Our rivals seek to take the throne from my family because they say the blood line is
tainted and then you appear, without warning, claiming innocence. You will bring down a war on all our heads. Do you not know what the cost of this will be?'

  I stepped forward. 'I don't know who you think we are but we're not here to cause any sort of trouble. We came into this world through a storm I couldn't stop because I was so desperate to find my mother. We won't hurt you or your family. I just need your help.' There was shouting from the fire at the far end of the path and revellers began to run down the pathway. With the speed and strength of a lioness Ellette pushed me and James back into the bushes. We stayed quiet as the others passed us and then Ellette put her hand over my heart. She picked up my own hand with her free one and put it over her own chest.

  So softly I could barely make out the words she whispered. 'Has the human world dimmed your senses so much that you do not know your own blood? I am your sister, Eve.' It was all I could do not to cry out loud. It seems ridiculous but it had never occurred to me that I might have siblings. As I felt her heart beat beneath my palm I knew it was true. I threw my arms about her and held her tight. She returned the embrace but was tense in my arms and I could feel her watching over my shoulders.

  'Follow me but be silent. I will take you somewhere we can talk.' She took me by the hand and led me through trees, into the rocky outcrops at the base of the mountain. James was watchful behind us, keeping his distance. Their mutual wariness made my skin prickle. At last we reached the entrance to a small cave. Ellette pulled me inside and indicated a rock to perch on while she made a fire. I couldn't take my eyes off her. Whatever else happened here, just knowing I had a sister made the journey worthwhile. To have been able to hold her and talk to her was a miracle. The look on her face told me she didn't feel quite the same. James sat next to me and Ellette watched us from across the flames. Once the flames were well fuelled she finally began to speak.