Ascension

by Sophia Sharp

  Laura stood up slowly, as if moving underwater. She walked toward the vault door, placed her hand on the handle, and pulled toward her.

  The door came open.

  Chapter Seven

  ~A Shadowed Threat~

  Logan was the first to notice.

  “What did you do?” he exclaimed. “How did you get it open?”

  Laura didn’t hear him. She was completely entranced with what she saw. The inside of the vault was lined wall-to-wall with all types of artifacts. They ranged in size from as big as her pinky finger to larger than the chest they encountered before. And they were truly diverse. Here was a stout metal goblet rimmed with red rubies; there was an oddly curved walking stick, the handle ending in a carved impression of a boar. There was a chair unlike any Laura had seen far on the other side, with a seat that seemed to sag down to the very floor. Along the other wall was a series of small figurines, each depicting a ballet dancer in various stages of flight. Many of the items she saw were decorated with rubies and precious stones. Some, she could not distinguish at all: for example, an interlocking grid of metal braces that made a cage around three fist-sized concentric spheres. And yet, from the moment she laid eyes on all these things, she knew them for what they were. Torrial.

  “Laura?” Logan called out behind her. She could hear him starting toward her, but didn’t pay him any mind. She had just uncovered an absolute treasure. She couldn’t let anyone else have it. She felt a commanding pull come from the far corner of the vault. There, she recognized the dark shape from before. The shadow was beckoning her inside, enticing her to cross the threshold and step into the repository. She didn’t want to share the treasures with anyone.

  She stepped inside, and before Logan or Alexander could do anything, shut the door behind her. She heard the click of the mechanism as it locked into place. A pounding noise began on the other side, but it was muted. Neither Logan nor Alexander would get in. The treasure was hers, all hers.

  She stepped dreamily toward the first row of artifacts. She could feel the shadow’s presence lurking near the rear of the vault, but she was unafraid. Or rather, unconcerned – all she could think about were the torrial that lay in front of her. The pounding noise drifted away as Laura reached out to pick up the nearest torrial…

  A wicked shadow flashed in front of her vision, momentarily blinding her. She staggered back. The shadow darted in front of her again, racing over the row of torrial. It moved back and forth, back and forth, and every time it did, it left pieces of black over the items. The black pieces grew like a coat of paint, encompassing each torrial in turn.

  Laura felt a stab of fear in her stomach, and realized what she had just done. Somehow, the shadow had lured her in here – and separated her from the others. She moved quickly to unlock the vault door, but when she turned all she could see was black.

  She took an uncertain step toward the door and reached out. Her hands should have met the cold iron, but instead, they felt… nothing. A noise behind her startled her, and she whipped around. What she saw made her feel true terror for the first time in her life.

  Everything that had been there before was gone. The torrial were not there. All she could see was never-ending darkness, extending indefinitely in all dimensions. Every now and then the darkness shimmered, creating a type of black enclosure much the same size as the vault had been. The black walls waxed and waned dizzyingly, though, and morphed in shape and size like in some kind of bad dream. And there, standing right before her, in a black deeper than should be possible, was the figure of a single man.

  He had no eyes, but Laura knew he was watching her. The ends of his arms and legs trailed off in wispy ends, connecting him to the darkness that surrounded everything. She knew he – or it – was what the shadow had been. He was what lured her here.

  His arm morphed into the scythe of a blade, and he lunged at her. She jumped out of the way, but the man – the creature, the shadow, whatever it was – was impossibly fast. A part of its blade caught the edge of her shirt, causing the fabric to hiss and burn. If Laura had been just a split second slower, her arm would have been sliced right through.

  Before she even had a chance to regain her balance, the creature lunged at her again. It moved with the deadly grace of a snake. Laura backpedaled out of the way desperately. The walls continued to shrink and expand, playing tricks on her mind and on her assessment of distance. In stroke of pure luck, she realized that she had believed the man-shaped shadow to be closer than it actually was. The small difference was enough for Laura to avoid the second blow and scramble to her feet. The walls pulsed menacingly in on her.

  Laura barely had enough time to orient herself before the shadow struck again. It aimed right for her head. Laura jumped back, narrowly avoiding the vile blade. She felt the rush of air from the swipe on her face.

  Desperately, she felt out for something she could defend herself with. Something, anything would be better than her bare hands. Instinctively, she knew that if she let the shadowed blade touch her, she would be worse than dead. And she knew that unless she could find an advantage soon, she stood little chance. The shadow seemed to be made for killing, and it was more than a match for her. It was the first thing she ever encountered that moved faster than a Vassiz.

  Her empty hands grabbed at air, finding nothing. Where there should have been the torrial there was nothing. Where there should have been the walls, there was nothing. Laura was sure this was not the human world anymore. She suspected that somehow, the shadow had pulled her into some sort of vortex. A vortex that, potentially, existed between the real world and the dream realm. There was nothing here except her and the creature.

  The man-shaped shadow did not strike at her immediately after the last miss. Instead, it had taken to slowly circling her. It was almost like it was teasing Laura, daring her to fight back. Knowing that she could not.

  The shadow made a move toward her. Laura jousted to one side. The strike did not come – the creature was just playing with her. It pulled back, and stepped to one side. Laura could feel its unyielding eyes on her.

  It made another abrupt move toward her, but this time Laura didn’t flinch. Again, the actual strike didn’t come. Laura wouldn’t be caught entertaining this thing like that. If she had to fight, let it be on her own terms. Laura felt the shadow tense, angry, and take a slow, agonizing step toward her.

  Suddenly Laura noticed a glitter of something near the creature’s chest. It wasn’t there all the time, but when the shadow moved… she caught a peak of it again. The darkness that made up the creature swirled and fogged around it to give it shape, but every so often the barest hint of the glimmer would come up. What was it?

  The creature lunged for her, not faking it this time. Laura waited for the last moment and sidestepped the attack. It was close, though – she felt the air rush past her along with the shadow. She knew that the creature wasn’t going at full speed.

  She saw the glimmer of light again. It looked like there was a… gem, or something like that, embedded into the shadow’s chest. As the dark shape turned back, Laura caught another glimpse of it. It seemed to be glowing, but the shine was swallowed up by the greater shadow. It seemed familiar, somehow.

  The creature had turned back, slowly. She felt hate radiate from it, directed purely at her. It was done playing games. The next time it struck, it wouldn’t miss.

  Suddenly Laura realized what the glow was. It was the same light of every active torrial she had ever seen. Was that how the shadow was operating? Maybe if she could separate the jewel from the shadow… It was her only chance.

  The shadow vaulted at her. She ran back, but then pretended to stumble and lose her footing. The creature fell for it. It streamed toward her with a maniacal intensity. At the very last moment, Laura caught herself and whipped around. She dove right at the creature’s chest – right at the gemstone.

  The sudden move caught the shadow off-guard. It froze for the barest hint of a second. It was jus
t the hesitation Laura needed.

  She flew through the air, arms extended, and met the shadow’s torso. Her fingers wrapped around the precious stone and she swept through, splitting the shadow as if it were mere mist. Just as she was about to fall through to the other side, the heel of her foot caught something sharp. Horrendous agony radiated from the spot.

  Laura fell to the floor, caught herself in a roll, and landed on her feet. Another jolt of pain from her heel nearly fell her, but she remained steady. She held the gemstone in one hand. She didn’t know if taking it had done anything. She turned back, expecting the worst.

  But what she found instead gave her hope. The shadow was frozen in place where Laura grabbed the jewel. She looked at her hand, and saw the light fading from the stone. She looked back. There was a gaping hole in the shadow’s chest where she had gone through. But then she realized the creature’s blade had a small red spot on it. Her blood.

  All at once, the darkness that surrounded her started to swirl menacingly. She heard a cry of pain, of anguish, and the next thing she knew the shadow creature had compressed into a tight ball. The darkness swirled into it. The very fabric of reality in this place was wavering, and the black that coated the walls, the surroundings, everything, got sucked into the compressed ball, leaving wavering trails of black fog. The ground started to shake, and there was a brilliant flash of white. Laura shielded her eyes instinctively against it. When she opened them, she was back in the vault.

  The pain from her foot crashed into being, and she staggered forward. She looked down, and saw blood staining her boot. The shadow’s blade had reached flesh. Agony of the worst sort radiated from the spot, and it was completely out of proportion with the actual wound. Laura shifted her weight gingerly onto the foot. And cried out in pain when her foot touched the floor.

  She heard pounding from the other side of the door. Logan and Alexander. She limped toward the door, moved the mechanism in place, and pushed it open. Then she fell to the floor.

  Logan was the first to her. He knelt down beside her. “What happened? Are you alright?” He framed her face with his strong hands. “Laura, what’s going on? Why did you lock us out?”

  “The shadow,” Laura said, in a voice weaker than she expected. “It lured me inside. It… tried to kill me.” She held out the gem she still had in her hand. “It used a torrial to take on the shape of a man. I managed to rip it from away, and it disappeared.”

  “You’re safe now,” Logan said. He cradled her head in between his arms. “You shouldn’t have done that, but you’re safe now.”

  “Her foot,” Alexander said solemnly. Logan looked down, and gasped.

  “What is that?” he demanded. “What happened?”

  “A small cut,” Laura said, trying to dismiss it as nothing. She didn’t know why she felt so sapped of strength. Or why the cut was so painful. “The shadow nicked me with its blade.”

  “You should not be bleeding like that,” Logan said seriously. “Let me see.”

  Laura tried to kick him away as he took her foot in his hands, but he did not waver. He pulled her shoe off. Gently, delicately, he rolled her sock down to expose the wound. Both he and Alexander inhaled sharply at what they saw.

  “Laura, this isn’t an ordinary cut,” Logan said gravely.

  “The wound is festering,” Alexander put in right behind him.

  “So?” Laura demanded. She didn’t like feeling weak, especially in front of Logan. Feeling or appearing weak. “It’s a small cut. It’ll heal.”

  “Is it very painful?” Logan asked.

  “No,” Laura lied.

  Alexander considered her. “If that’s the truth… well, we can’t do anything about it now. We’ll need to wrap it tightly to contain the blood flow. Laura, this was not done by an ordinary blade.”

  “Of course I know that!” she snapped.

  Alexander tsked. “The point is, that it may be dangerous for you. You have to watch for any symptoms, and let us know immediately what you feel.”

  Logan nodded in agreement. “We’ll do the best we can. Can you walk?”

  “Of course I can—” Laura had to bite off the end of the sentence as Logan applied pressure to the cut. Pain such as she’d never felt before pulsed through her entire body. She willed herself not to show it. “—walk,” she finished sourly.

  Logan nodded, not really listening, and tore a piece of fabric from the sleeve of his shirt. He used it to bandage Laura’s foot. Laura winced and looked away, determined not to let them see her pain.

  “There,” Logan said finally. “That’s the best I can do right now. Do you need a hand up?”

  “No!” she said irritably. Logan frowned at her response, and Laura forced herself to be gentle. Why was she so irritable now? “I mean, no, I’m fine,” she said in a softer tone. “Thank you for taking care of my foot.”

  “It’s nothing,” Logan said. Then, in a half-whisper, added, “I should have been the one to go in first.”

  Laura stood up, and Logan rose beside her. For the first time, he looked beyond her to see the repository in all its glory. “Wow,” he breathed, “this is it, huh?”

  “Yes,” Laura said. Her foot was crying out in pain, but she forced herself to ignore it. “You did it, Logan. You found it for us.”

  Alexander stepped between them and came up to the first row of items. He bent down, brushing his fingers gently over the artifacts. “These torrial have the power to destroy the world,” he said to himself. “What is it that we’re meddling with? We are nothing but children, clueless to the real power and blind to the danger of any of them. But yet, we need them. It is the only way to attack the elders.” He rose and turned around. “I’ll go get Madison.”

  Chapter Eight

  ~Madison’s Breakthrough~

  Alexander returned with Madison before nightfall. Laura and Logan dared not touch any of the torrial while they waited, for fear of what they might do, but jammed the door to the vault to make sure it did not close on them.

  “Where’s Jacob?” Laura asked when she saw Madison coming up the stairs. The cut on her foot still hurt, but she had learned to ignore the pain. Well, maybe not ignore, but she could cope with it better.

  “Still recovering in the tent,” Madison said coyly. “Even though he’s helped us this far, I thought it a bad idea to introduce another Vassiz to the angels after what happened with Rafael.”

  “The angels? Does that mean the tonic you’ve been working on is ready?”

  “Yes,” Madison said. “You and Logan will both be able to enter the dream realm again.”

  “That’s unbelievable!” Laura exclaimed. She got up, biting down the pain, and staggered over to embrace Madison in a hug. “Everything is finally coming together.”

  “Quite,” Madison said. “Now, the only thing we have to worry about is finding the angels in the dream realm.”

  “What do you mean?” Logan asked. “Didn’t they say they were going to meet us at the repository once we found it?”

  “Yes,” Madison said, “but how will they know when that is?”

  “I’m sure they’ve been monitoring it,” Laura said assuredly. “Or us. It was their suggestion, after all. Perhaps they’re able to sense when one of us enters the dream realm.”

  “Let’s hope so,” came Madison’s reply. She pulled out a vial from her pocket. “Here’s your ticket there.” She tossed the vial to Logan, who caught it easily.

  Logan examined the container, which was maybe half the length of hiss pinky finger and was less than a quarter full. “There’s enough here for the both of us?”

  “It’s a very delicate balance,” Madison said. “Very potent, too. One drop and either of you will be out in minutes.”

  “How do you know this will take us to the dream realm?” Logan asked. “And not… what happened last time.”

  Last time was the previous time Madison had claimed to have perfected the mixture. Logan had been the one to try it, then, and ended up
passed out for the better part of three days. When he finally awoke, he had no recollection of what had happened the entire previous week. Needless to say, he had been unable to enter the dream realm under the concoction’s influence.

  “For one, like I said before, I finally got the pure ingredients I needed,” Madison answered. “And two, while you all left to find the repository, and I was back in the tent with Jacob, I had time to test it on myself. It worked.”

  “And you were able to wake up when you wanted to?” Laura asked. “You were in full control?”

  “That’s right,” Madison said. “Like I told you, everything’s ready. It turned out to be great timing, don’t you think?”

  “Absolutely,” Laura agreed. What were the odds that they would find the repository on the same day that Madison finally perfected the herbal mixture? It looked like the last three weeks had not been wasted, after all. If any of them had found the repository earlier, they would not have been able to make use of it before Madison finished her task, anyway. The rapid succession of successes made Laura more optimistic about the task at hand than she felt in weeks.

  “So show me the vault you found,” Madison said, “and we won’t waste any more time. We can go into the dream realm immediately.”

  “Of course,” Laura said. “Alexander, you want to take her there? After she’s seen it, come back here, and we’ll go meet the angels.”

  Alexander agreed and started leading Madison up the stairs to the highest level. Just before she left, though, Madison turned around.

  “You should probably take a drop of the mixture now,” she told Laura and Logan. “The effects take a few minutes to kick in, and about ten before you’re actually asleep. That’s more than enough time for me to see everything.”

  “One drop for both of us?” Logan asked.

  “One for Laura, and half for you. Like I said, it’s potent. Since Laura fed more recently, she’ll need a higher dose.”