by Sophia Sharp
She ran, thinking wildly. How could she get to the other side of Hunter and cut the cord? Something tickled her memory. An idea formed in her mind. It was something she had done before, and it had served her well. She ran onward, then pretended to have her foot catch on an upturned root. She fell heavily onto her hands. From the corner of one eye, she saw Hunter sneer. The next second, he was on her, about to slam his body into hers…
Now!
Nora spun back, wielding the blade, and slashed the air behind Hunter’s knee. She did not miss. Hunter’s body crashed into hers, but, much like with the snake, he went right through. A dumb look of fascination briefly twisted Hunter’s face. Then he opened his mouth and let out a blood-curdling scream.
The scream filled the forest air. It was the voice of the elder. Hunter fell to his knees and clutched at his head. Before her eyes, those gaping holes of light started to take over his entire body. She had to look away. Agony of the most perfect sort marred the features on his face, and even though Nora knew this was not the real Hunter, even though she knew this was just a puppet of the elder, she could not force herself to watch. She turned as the screams got louder behind her, cries of disbelief and immense pain.
The light pulsed from Hunter’s body in all directions, illuminating the forest. Her back was turned, but she could imagine what was happening behind her. The elder’s screams filled the air as the light intensified, pooling closer and closer together.
The screams cut off as Hunter’s whole body was consumed by the light. Nora turned her head slightly, and saw the shining shape that was left. It was a glowing ball of light, exactly as the snake had been. Nora took a step away, toward Gray. She had bested the elder twice.
But the light behind her did not dissipate like last time. It was still there, lighting the forest like a miniature sun. Nora turned to look again. Had she done something wrong? Had she—
She cut off as the amorphous shape suddenly streamed toward her. It moved so fast she didn’t even have time to blink, much less get out of the way. The ball of light slammed into her, paralyzing her for a moment. Intense cold such as she’d never felt weaved its way through her body, leaving nothing untouched. It was the cold of a thousand blizzards, the cold of the arctic tundra concentrated into one spot. It was a cold that could freeze time, a cold that could turn the hottest of the stars into ice. The cold traveled through her body, seeping into every joint and every ligament, every bone and every blood vessel. It encompassed her whole being until not even her mind was safe.
She felt the cold reaching for the connection she held with the elder in her mind. She could not resist. The cold settled onto the connection. A wave of shivers rocked Nora’s body, and the sensation was gone.
In its place was something Nora could never expect. The connection she had with the elder had magnified. She now saw a perfect representation of him in her mind. She felt his fear, his uncertainty. And she knew that now, he was no longer in control.
She had killed two of his creations. Now, there was only a single cord left that gave him life. He was frail now, and he was frightened. Nora saw him not as he projected himself to the world, but as he existed beneath the façade. He was an old man, his bones brittle and his muscles weak. His hair had become a ghastly white, and the skin that had recently been tight on a handsome face was now sagging and dotted with liver spots. He had lived far longer than even the Vassiz were supposed to and had somehow covered up who he really was. But Nora now saw it crystal-clear in her mind. She felt the evil dankness of his thoughts, sensed a rottenness of his soul that made her insides crawl.
He knew she was there. He looked over his shoulder, one way, then the other. He knew he was being watched. Perhaps he didn’t know how, but he was on edge. Nora knew exactly where he was. When she severed the second cord, she inherited all the power of this world. The power he once held. Now, the dream was truly at her command.
She could see the shining, pulsing cord extending from the elder’s back. No longer would it be hidden from her. She could also see where the other two cords had once been. The remaining cord pulsed and twisted wickedly. She felt the elder drawing on it. He was drawing as much energy as he could, as much of that precious life force that gave him sustenance. But the capacity of the cord was at its limit. Whereas before there were three avenues for the elder to draw what he needed to survive, now there was only one. He was weak. It was past time for Nora to end this.
She took a step in his direction, and he bolted. His gait was pathetic and slow, now. Nora almost pitied the man. But after everything he’d done in his life, and everything he’d done to her, even the most compassionate parts of her heart could find no sympathy for him. No matter how hard he ran, he would not get away. She knew exactly where he was.
She felt him trying to draw through the remaining cord to create a ripple in reality, to skim somewhere farther away, and she stopped him. She didn’t know how she did it, exactly, only that the connection between them allowed her to block anything he did.
She felt panic rise up in the elder’s thoughts. Desperately, he tried again, and once more Nora crushed the attempt. Uncertainty and fear swelled through the connection, so strongly some of it almost rubbed off on her. She stopped the flow of emotions ruthlessly. She was the one in control.
She took another step in his direction but then stopped. Why chase him if he could come to her? A smile formed on Nora’s face. She would let him run, but he would run right into her arms.
The elder was still frantically trying to form that ripple that would allow him to get farther away. Nora could feel the feeble beating of his attempts against the shield she had put up. She let the shield go.
Hope surged through the connection, stronger than any emotion Nora could expect from him. She smiled cruelly. Let him have that little bit of hope for now. It would make it all the more sweet when she dashed it out from under him. He had dared play with her emotions, creating the apparition of Hunter to bring her into a vulnerable state. She would do the same to him. She could be just as calculating, just as cruel, as he had been.
He shifted reality before him and moved a great distance away in the blink of an eye. She let him go. No matter how far he went, her connection with him would not waver. She could still see him clearly in her mind’s eye.
The hope that Nora felt was now replaced by relief. The smile on her face grew. That relief would make everything so much sweeter when the elder realized she was only toying with him.
The elder drew through the cord again, and again compressed a large swath of land before him to jump through. The relief within him grew stronger. Nora also felt a new sense of confidence erupt within the man. He genuinely thought he was getting away. Well, let him. The surprise he came to at the end would make everything so much more satisfying.
Nora watched through the connection as the elder created ripples in reality, again and again. Each time he thought he was getting farther away from her. The confidence in him grew, and the fear and uncertainty faded. He thought he was still in control.
Nora nodded to herself. It was time to correct that perception. The elder used the strength of the cord and shifted reality again. But just as he stepped through the portal, Nora drew on both her torrial and the connection with him to alter the destination to something he could not possibly expect. She brought him to her.
She saw a flash of light in front of her. The air shimmered, wavered, and solidified into an elderly man with a triumphant smile on his face. The smile disappeared, and his eyes went wide when he realized where he was.
Overwhelming panic pulsed through the connection. The elder tried to use his fading power to move away, but Nora stomped down on that, hard. She reenacted the shield that blocked him from accessing the lifeline given by the cord.
His mouth worked, but no words came out. Nora simply looked at him. He was a pathetic excuse of a man. All the pomp and glamour that he displayed when Nora first met him in the cabin was gone. In its stead was rotting
skin and a decaying body. The natural air of confidence he had once assumed had disappeared. He stood there in front of her, a shell of the man he once was. No – this was who he actually was. Everything else Nora had seen was nothing more than an illusion. It was nothing more than a sham.
In one last, desperate attempt to get away, the elder turned and ran. Nora watched as he went into the woods. Then, when he was just out of sight, she sprang the invisible shackles he had once used to confine her. She didn’t know how she did it, only that doing so was both natural and instinctive. He fell to the ground, struggling against them, but it was no use. They had him bound tighter than the strongest chains. Nora pulled, and the elder came tumbling back, bouncing hard against the ground. When he stopped, sitting slumped over not ten feet away from her, he was beyond pathetic.
Hatred coursed through the connection with him. He shot a vile look at Gray, who was lying leisurely to Nora’s side. There was no more fear, however. The elder knew he had been caught, knew he had been bested. He seemed to have accepted the fact, and that surprised Nora.
“So, girl, you think this is it, do you?” the elder sneered. It was almost a shock to Nora to hear him speak so clearly. His voice had not changed at all, and the strength of it came at stark contrast to the rest of him. “You think you’ve got me beat, don’t you? That your despicable attempt to alter a world you know nothing about has succeeded?”
“Has it not?” Nora asked calmly. “Have I not gone against two of your creations and beaten both? Do I not have you chained right in front of me, created prisoner by the methods you once used against me?”
“That may be so,” the elder said, “but you’re a long way from accomplishing your true goals. I am one of eight. Do you truly believe that all your pathetic friends will find the same success? If but one of us survives, everybody will be alerted to what you have done. All the Vassiz in the world will come after you. You think the packs that came for you before were bad? Those were the lowest of the low. We did not recruit our strongest, nor out best. They will come for you, and they will destroy you.”
“Your time of power is up, elder,” Nora said harshly. “The lies and deceit with which you spun your web of command will be revealed. What you did to the angels will be revealed. All the crimes against your own race will be revealed. The histories you hid will not remain covered up. The Vassiz will know of their true past and of your role in eroding their race. The era of repression you oversaw is over!”
To her surprise, the elder looked at her and started to laugh. It was an infuriating gesture, because it was so much at odds with the fear the elder felt earlier. It was the laugh of a man at ease, of a man who has the upper hand. In her mind, Nora double- and triple-checked to make sure the elder could not squirm out of the bonds that held him, nor draw on whatever power came through the cord attached to him. As far as she could tell, there was no threat of that. But then, why was he laughing?
“My era of oppression?” the elder finally sneered. “You truly think your intentions are noble, don’t you? That all the Vassiz will readily accept the change you bring to them? That now, because you killed off the leaders they’ve had for centuries, they will embrace you with open arms?”
“Of course not!” Nora defended, but she felt an uncomfortable bit of uncertainty start to form in the back of her mind. She shut it away. “But anything I give them will be better than how they lived under you.”
“You say that as if it has already been decided,” the elder said sadly. “You are so young. You have so much potential. Why risk it all for a race you barely know? For a people you cannot possibly represent?”
“I don’t want to represent them,” Nora said, “only free them.” Why was she defending her actions before someone like him? His entire existence was marred with lies and deceit. He was despicable! Yet, for some reason, she felt compelled to let him say what he had to.
“Free them, and in the process, free yourself? Is that not it, Nora? Is that not what you are truly after?” He paused, letting his words sink in. “I saw your mind, girl. I know your thoughts. There is nothing you can hide from me. I know what drives you, and I know what motivates you. I know that in your heart of hearts you are just as selfish as any of us. You are, in a true sense of the word, a Vassiz. You spin the purpose of your words to suit your needs, to align with your conscience, whereas in reality, you are guided by nothing more than selfish self-interest. You’re vapid and completely bland. Anybody with even a hint of intelligence could spot the stupidity of your ways.”
Anger bubbled up within her. The elder was not in a position to make such accusations. She tightened the bonds that held him. Strain became clear on his face, and pain radiated through the connection. But he did not let up.
“You pretend to be chasing after some greater good, some higher purpose,” he continued in a voice that did not display any of his discomfort. “Revenge for what the elders supposedly did to the angels? Or for what you heard we suffered upon the Vassiz? Those ideals live within you only as a way of defending your true desires. You want to be free of us all, do you not? To live your life with your precious Hunter.” He spat the name. “And to not worry about turning your head every time you hear the wind blow in the distance?”
“You make baseless accusations,” Nora said strongly. “Is there anything so wrong about desiring a life of peace with the one I love?” The small seed of doubt that had sprouted in the back of her mind had to be eliminated. She had to have a clear conscience if she were to kill the elder in cold blood.
“If that is your true desire, girl,” the elder said with a hint of satisfaction, “I would be remiss if I did not tell you that such a thing is not in the cards.”
“What are you talking about?” Nora asked suspiciously.
“Only that there is more to the prophecy that you believe guides you. Oh, don’t look so surprised, girl. I’m sure the omission was one that Gabrielle sorely regrets.”
“What omission?” Nora asked. She tested her hold on the elders bonds, and kept them tight. “No more riddles. Tell me the truth.”
“That is all I propose to do,” the elder said, and for the first time, the strain he felt entered his voice. Good. Let it. “But first, a rhetorical question. Why do you find it so easy to trust the angels? Is it true benevolence that guides them – and you – or is it something else? All beings yearn for power, Nora. And all will cheat and lie to achieve it. The angels you hold in such high regard are no different from you and I. Think! Your search for the repository took weeks, yet could have gone so much faster had they simply revealed the location to you. What was the point of the delay? A vague dispute they had with Rafael? You still do not know what that was about, do you?”
“How do you know all this?” Nora demanded. Why had the angels not shown them the repository earlier? Gabrielle’s justification of it was vague at best.
“I see things in your memories that you cannot understand,” the elder said. “Nobody can ever be trusted. Everything has to be questioned. Remember those two universal truths, and they will serve you well in the future.”
“What are you talking about?” Nora repeated. She tested the bonds once more in her mind, just to make sure the elder had no chance of slithering away. He did not.
“One thing at a time. I can see you’re questioning the trust you put into Gabrielle. Good. Such suspicion is good.”
“Get on with it,” Nora growled, and tightened the bond around the elder’s neck, temporarily cutting off his air supply. His breathing became rasping, and he gagged for air. Nora kept him like that for a few moments before easing her hold. She didn’t like what he was forcing her to do, but she had to show she was the one in control.
“I mean only this,” the elder said, in ragged breath, once Nora released her hold. “The prophecy Gabrielle told you is not the full one. He only told you of one half.”
“One half? What is the rest?”
The elder met her eye, and in a truly repulsive gesture
, winked at her. “I would tell you, Nora, but I’m afraid the bond that holds me has sapped me of my strength.” He frowned. “I don’t take you for a fool, so I do not expect you to let me go, but an easing of my shackles would go a long way in encouraging my tongue.”
Nora grimaced unhappily but complied. Somehow, the elder had her entranced with his words, but she was confident she still held the upper hand, if only by the amount of power she had in this world.
The elder smiled as his bonds loosened. Nora allowed him a certain amount of flexibility in his arms, which he took advantage of by rubbing his wrists where the force Nora commanded had been particularly harsh. She still held both his legs tightly to the ground, lest he attempt to surprise her with an attack.
“Well?” Nora demanded. “Get on with it!”
“I will,” the elder said. “You see, there is more to the prophecy than Gabrielle told you. The part he omitted is one I doubt very much you’d like to hear. But of course, I’m sure it was just a simple slip of the mind on his part.” The smile he formed showed that he did not think so at all. “‘When darkness comes, and hope is lost, a shimmering star shall be revealed. And she will free the fallen ones, restoring order to the rule of man.’ That is what Gabrielle told you, is it not?”
“It is,” Nora said slowly.
“Well, there is more to it than that. In fact, there was a whole clause he omitted for you. Right in the middle of what he said. The true prophecy goes like this: ‘When darkness comes, and hope is lost, a shimmering star shall be revealed. Born of flame and darkness, her screams will pierce the deep of the night, for they are screams of the destruction she wrought. An equilibrium held for centuries will shatter before her coming, and with it, she will free the fallen ones, restoring order to the rule of man.’”
“You lie,” Nora said defensively. But that small inkling of doubt in her mind grabbed onto the elder’s words and held them tight.
