The awakening hc-1

by Stuart Meczes

  I shook my head. “No, I’m not leaving you. I won’t.” She gave a weak smile. “Still a stubborn one, aren’t you?” “Would you have it any other way?” I sniffed. She stroked a thumb against my tears, wiping them away. “Alex?” I stared into her perfect blue eyes. “I love you.” She pulled my face towards hers and pressed her lips against mine, in a final kiss. Then she died.

  A tormented scream ripped from my lungs. I cradled her limp body against my chest, trying to squeeze the life back into her. No, oh god, please no.

  Her body grew cold. My soul felt like it had been shredded to pieces. I couldn’t breathe. There was nothing, nothing to live for. My world plunged into darkness.

  Gabriella was gone.

  I want to die, please God let me die.

  Through blurry vision, I saw the Crimson Twin lying a few feet from where I huddled with my dead soulmate. It was all I needed to end the pain. Faru had said that it supposedly could kill anything.

  Then it can kill a Chosen.

  I gathered the sword into my hand and rotated the blade, pushing the tip against my solar plexus. I barely felt the pain as it started to sink it into my flesh.

  I looked up. The Sorrow was standing about ten feet away, its head cocked in amused curiosity at the situation. The rage inside grew into something I’d never felt before. It ran into every part of me, coursing through my veins, joining with my blood.

  It consumed me.

  I slid the blade from my flesh. Carefully, I lay Gabriella’s body on ground and stood up. I extended an arm, pointing the tip of the sword towards the vile creature. “YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!” I screamed in a voice I didn’t recognise. “YOU KILLED HER! I’M GOING TO RIP YOU APART!” The Sorrow’s only response was to point back at me. Without another thought, I charged.

  The Sorrow swept its blade out in a horizontal arc. I ducked and brought my fist up, connecting with the mask. It clanged and shifted to the side. The Sorrow made a bizarre grunting sound and stumbled back. If there was pain I didn’t feel it. I ran forward again and jumped into a spinning kick, connecting with its chest plate and driving it further back. I struck it with the Crimson Twin and a piece of its armour fell to the ground. It dissolved into an acid like substance, burning a deep hole in the dirt. The Sorrow jabbed the giant blade at me, I jumped to the side and brought my own sword down onto his. A deep crack appeared on the top. The force made the Sorrow stumble forward. I took another slash at its chest. More of its armour fell away, exposing what could only be described as a black void underneath. Darker than the depths of despair and coursing with evil…

  The Sorrow struck out with a fist. The knuckles hit my cheekbone. I felt searing pain as the spinal needles punctured my skin. I didn’t care. With a scream of rage I struck again and again at the soul eater. Every time I connected, sections of its armour fell like dismembered limbs. More of the deep darkness was exposed — a living abyss. It curled and shimmered in rolling shadows.

  The Sorrow carved its sword towards me. The tip ripped through my left shoulder. I felt it slice through my tendons. The arm sunk lifelessly to my side and unbearable agony filled me up. I tried to make it heal, but couldn’t.

  A burst of lightning struck nearby. I was temporarily blinded and only heard the heavy whoosh of the sword as it arched through the air. I jumped back and felt another burst of pain as it sliced away the flesh from the side of my leg. Still half-blind, I roared in fury and drove upwards with the Crimson Twin. I felt it hit something and stick.

  When the spots had cleared, I saw that the blade had sunk right into the Sorrow’s chest. It disappeared into the gloom. I stared at the thing. Its hollow eyes seemed to glare back at me. Then it made a strange huffing noise — a kind of laugh. It pulled the blade from its chest with a sharp tug. It rested its own sword against its body and took mine in both hands.

  Then it snapped it in half.

  At that moment all hope of defeating The Sorrow vanished. It was just too powerful. Lafelei’s words were wrong. Gabriella, my soul mate, had died in vain. Now I was going to be killed…or worse. The rage retreated and my despair became absolute.

  I gave up.

  The Sorrow lifted hand towards the flame scorched sky. The thunder became a deafening cacophony of sound, as if hidden Gods were yelling in fury. The clouds blazed as the supernatural lightning gathered. The Sorrow pointed his arm in my direction and I only had a split second to witness the biggest single bolt of lightning in human history, before it smashed into my chest.

  Everything went into slow motion. I felt myself being lifted up, as if gravity no longer existed. The ground rushed underneath me. A cool wind ruffled my hair and suit. Through dimming eyesight, I watched The Sorrow shrink in size until it became a dot on the horizon.

  Clang!

  I was partially aware of distant pain as my back connected with something.

  Clang!

  It hit another something.

  Clang! Clang! Clang!

  More and more of the metallic objects struck my back. Finally one refused to give way. It jolted me to a stop. I hit the ground like a rock.

  Scaffolding poles lay scattered around me. I heard a loud groan above and then an entire construction of beams and ladders collapsed down around me. Bits of wood and metal punched against every part of my body. Then everything became still.

  I noticed my jacket lying in a tattered heap a few feet away from me. The lightning had cooked it to a cinder. A burning butterfly escaped the pile. It floated through the air, before dissolving into ash.

  Dads photograph.

  34

  The Depraved appeared in the distance — hundreds of them, scuttling, jumping and crawling their way through the pouring rain. A sea of evil, surging towards me.

  It had all ended so fast. I looked down at my twisted, broken body and a bitter laugh escaped my lips.

  Some hero I turned out to be.

  I was meant to protect the world; I couldn’t even protect her. My eyes welled up as it dawned on me that I would never hold her again, never smell her sweet hair.

  I could taste blood in my mouth. I tried to spit it out, but had no energy left. It just dribbled pathetically down my chin. More came up to take its place. Not a good sign. I knew I should get up, should fight to my last breath. I was just so worn out, and without her, what was the point anyway?

  The stench of smoke and scorched metal filled my nostrils. An intense throbbing in my side drew my attention. I discovered with a flash of nausea that a scaffolding pole had speared through my ribs, pinning me to the ground. I wasn’t healing anymore; I couldn’t even summon the will to try.

  This is it then, the end of the road.

  I’m going to die here.

  I closed my eyes, trying to let the images of her face occupy my mind. I wanted my last thoughts to be of her as I died. For some reason I couldn’t make them stay shut. The curiosity in me needed to see how it all ended.

  The creatures surrounded me. There was a crescendo of baying and twittering laughter as they studied me. Standing in the centre was The Sorrow. Even though the iron mask covered its face, I knew it was wearing a sick, triumphant smile.

  It crouched down, pressing a metal knee against my chest. The weight crushed all of the air from my lungs. I had to use all of my remaining strength to gasp the next breath.

  The Sorrow lifted an armour clad arm up to its artificial face, the screech of the metal joints like rusty door hinges. There was a click as it unlocked the straps. The mask dislodged with a wet pop.

  So this is how it’s going to be.

  The excited chattering rose into an ear-splitting roar. There was no escape. It started to pull the iron face away, wanting to show me what lay underneath. I let out a long, final sigh.

  Now comes the end of everything.

  I felt a sensation like an electric current rush through my body. Losing my soul didn’t feel how I’d imagined. It felt…familiar.

  Alex.

  The softly spoken word fil
led my mind.

  Faru?

  Yes Alexander it’s me. Listen, you must close your eyes.

  There’s no point. It’s over. The Sorrow won.

  It is not over. Please close your eyes, there isn’t much time.

  The Sorrow loomed over me, the mask hinging away from its face as I closed my eyes.

  It doesn’t matter. Gabriella’s gone. Faru, it killed her.

  She’s not gone.

  I felt hope bloom inside me. What do you mean?

  I can still feel her link, its weak, but still there. If she were completely gone, then it would have been severed. Alexander, there may still be time.

  But I tried to heal her, it didn’t work.

  I believe your gift is rendered unusable when you are near The Sorrow. If you were able to defeat it…

  The despair came back. Faru, I can’t, it’s too powerful. Even the Crimson Twins didn’t work.

  Alexander, there will be a way. There has to be. Think!

  I racked my brains, but couldn’t grab hold of anything. A sensation of crawling spiders prickled across every inch of my skin. I could sense that The Sorrows true face was exposed. I squeezed my eyes shut as tight as they would go. I knew if I opened them, that my soul would be taken. I could feel The Sorrow leaning closer. It would be a matter of seconds before it prised my eyes open and everything was over. My life-force would be devoured and used to fuel its own retched soul.

  Its own soul…

  Faru, give me your Farsight!

  Instantly, I felt the psychedelic rush hit my mind. The world became a swirl of colours; the scaffolding around me shimmered as if not completely there. The Sorrow became a moving mirage of black and red. The holes where its armour had once been were darker than black. Unknowable creatures with crimson eyes scuttled about in the darkness. Where the soul eater’s face should have been was a swirling vortex of purple and black.

  As soon as I saw it, my jaw locked open. Something deep within my chest began to unfurl and move towards my throat. My body grew cold. My mind began to waver. I could barely collect any thoughts. A blue beam of light pushed out of my mouth and floated towards the vortex. The Sorrow rose up, drawing my soul with it.

  I had no time left. In seconds, I would become a Depraved, just like all the others that had stood against The Sorrow. Another hideous, mindless slave.

  I scanned for what I prayed would be there — stared into the depths of the darkness, where the horrific red eyed creatures crawled. Then I saw it. Denser black than even the shadows around it, a pulsing orb of blackness at the heart of darkness. The eye of the abyss.

  I prayed to any God that was listening and heaved myself upwards. My broken bones screamed and cracked as I lifted my working arm.

  I plunged my hand into The Sorrow’s chest.

  Unimaginable pain — burning and freezing and crushing and bursting all at the same time, raced up my arm. My fingers closed around the soul. It felt slippery. Raw meat coated in oil. The Sorrow let out a piercing shriek as I tugged backwards with every remaining ounce of strength. It snapped free. My fist slipped out of the darkness. Little wet strings of black ichor covered my hand all the way down to the wrist. The orb beat like a giant heart in my hand.

  I drove The Sorrow’s own soul into the vortex.

  The soul eater made a scream so loud and high pitched I thought my eardrums would burst. It tried to claw at its own face. A white light appeared in the centre of the vortex and grew. The exposed patches of darkness were overpowered by the growing brightness. The creatures squealed and vanished. The light shone through the cracks in the armour like rays of sunlight through openings in a curtain. It grew so bright that it seemed to draw all the other swirling colours into it. The giant sword clattered to the ground and dissolved into a black puddle. The Sorrow threw back its head and exploded in a shower of light. I shielded my eyes with a broken hand, but not before I saw thousands of souls shoot up in a fountain of pure energy. Something shot into my mouth, snapping my head backwards with incredible force. I knew beyond a doubt it was my soul returning to its rightful place. When the light had dimmed enough for me to look again, I saw the freed souls snaking their way into the sky. As soon as they hit the clouds, the Red Storm was consumed by light. The clouds dissolved and the rain stopped falling. Something tickled my arm. I looked down to see the black substance coiling its way up my wrist and onto my forearm. It spiralled and looped into various shapes and then set like dry ink. It had turned itself into some kind of strange tattoo. I was too tired to care.

  Ignoring the excruciating pain, I heaved myself onto my feet and limped as fast as I could all the way to the entrance, where Gabriella’s body lay. As I grew near, I could feel my bones start to piece their way back together.

  My heart broke all over again to see her lifeless, rain soaked body. The water had washed her blood into a shimmering pink halo. With Faru’s Farsight, I noticed something else. In the centre of her chest — so small and faint it was barely there at all — was her soul.

  I knelt down to her body and lifted her towards me. I stared into her closed eyes and prayed for something to work. For a moment nothing did. I felt despair dragging away hope once again. Then I felt the charges start. They were no more than a tingle at first, but they grew quickly, gathering power. My body began to shudder; Gabriella’s body did the same. Behind her shining skin, I could see the little blue orb uncurl like a waking animal. It slid slowly up to her throat. I felt my own chest becoming warm. With my free hand, I ripped open my shirt. A bright blue light glowed in the centre.

  An overwhelming need to cough seized my chest. I coughed a little, but the feeling didn’t pass. I hacked again with as much force as I could manage. My jaw unhinged and the blue light poured from my mouth. It surged towards Gabriella. Her own mouth fell gently open and tiny snake of light rolled out. Mine connected with hers and instantly Gabriella’s body arched upwards. Her soul grew brighter and more powerful. It changed from a pale blue, going through every shade until it became an electric blue. Her wound knitted itself back together, leaving nothing but a long, pink line.

  The souls released each other and snapped back into our bodies. My head was thrown backwards, popping my neck with a loud crack. Gabriella’s eyes flew open and she gasped for air.

  “Ella,” I wept, as tears of happiness flowed down my cheeks.

  I wrapped my arms around her. Gabriella pressed into me so tightly it felt like we were going to merge into one person. I could feel from her own shaking body that she was crying too.

  Over her shoulder, I saw that without The Sorrow, all of the Depraved had died. Somehow in death, they appeared more human. Each one wore an expression of utter serenity. The Sorrow’s steed was lying on its side — eyeballs rolling wildly in their socket. A ball of energy descended from the sky and settled nearby. The Unicorn looked at it and made a soft whinnying sound. Its eyes changed from red to pale blue and the madness was replaced by tranquillity. It looked towards me and then lay its head down and fell silent. I closed my eyes and held Gabriella close. Faru, it’s over. I know. We’re almost there. Hold on. There was no shudder before his answer. He hadn’t left me.

  Scores of cars and bikes appeared in front of us. They screeched to a stop a few yards away from where Gabriella and I sat holding each other. Faru was inside the lead car. The Sage stepped down and nodded his head towards me.

  “Come on,” I whispered into my soulmate’s ear. “Let's go home.”

  I picked her up in my arms and carried her towards the waiting convoy.

  EPILOGUE

  Gabriella’s hands pressed gently over my eyes.

  “No peeking!” she laughed as she maneuvered me through the mansion grounds.

  “You better not walk me into a tree!”

  I could hear the sound of band music not too far away. It sounded familiar. Then I heard the sounds of a large crowd of people talking and laughing. My curiosity started to peak. “Come on,” I whinged, “tell me what’s goin
g on!”

  “Not yet, almost there…okay you can open them now.”

  Gabriella removed her hands and I gasped. We were standing inside a Marquee tent the size of a football pitch. Someone had stolen Narnia. Snow, Christmas trees and towering ice sculptures were everywhere I looked. Fridges carved from frosted ice were lined with beers and wine. Waitresses dressed in white dresses walked around with cakes and mince pies on platters. Silver banners with CHRISTMAS BALL II written on them lined the sides. A canopy of white balloons floated above our heads. The tent was filled with pretty much every sixth former from Chapter Hill high school. But out of everything, what really blew my mind was the fact that Soulfire was playing on stage. A load of people were gathered on a dance floor below, jumping around to the music. “W-what is all this?” I asked in confusion. “A second attempt at the Christmas Ball,” smiled Gabriella, “because we never got to enjoy ours.” “This is incredible…how did you manage it?” “I asked Faru. He’s a pretty powerful guy you know.” I laughed. “I’m convinced.”

  Mikey weaved towards us from the crowd, his hand linked with Scarlett’s. The other clutched a beer. He gave me a hug, almost spilling the contents down the new shirt Gabriella had bought me.

  “Alex, this party is sick! I can’t believe Soulfire are actually here!” Scarlett rolled her eyes. “Fifth beer,” she said. “Don’t tell Mum!” Mikey said with an unsubtle wink. “I won’t,” I promised, trying to keep a straight face.

  At that moment, the song ended and the marquee was filled with clapping and cheers. A waitress glided over to me, a multitude of drinks balanced on her silver dish. She plucked a beer from the top and handed it to me. “For you Mr Eden,” she said and moved back off again. I took a large swig and put my arm around Gabriella, kissing the top of her head. “Thank you so much.” “You deserve nothing less,” she said kissing me on the lips.