The Divine Fallen

by Lorena Beaver

  Letting go of her arm I pulled the pendant from under my shirt. “Yep, the same.”

  “Pretty crazy, eh?”

  I nodded.

  “I still can’t believe it myself. I didn’t really get the chance to take it all in the last time. It’s really quite breathtaking isn’t it?” She asked as we started under the umbrella of branches. They were mostly bare of leaves, only a few hanging on here and there with the rest of them covering most of the path and ground.

  “It’s exactly the same. Your tree and this one. Exactly. Even down to the leaves.”

  “I know, it’s weird. When I woke up and they took me to Jo. I watched a leaf fall from the tree then I watched the exact same thing happen on my arm.”

  As we got closer to the trunk of the tree I realized just how large it was. It must have been stories high and the truck was even larger than the fountain in Ether. Ten feet closer now, I stopped suddenly when six people—two men and four women—appeared out of thin air.

  “Whoa,” I whispered. “Abigail, where’d they come from?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know but they won’t hurt you, I swear. They are the reason we’re here... together.”

  “Who are they?” I knew it was probably pointless to be whispering but I felt it necessary.

  “They’re witches. The council.”

  “Dressed in white?” I couldn’t keep my voice low.

  She laughed. “Ryan, they don’t have to have pointy hats or dress in black to be witches. You should know that. Look at Jo.”

  Again, she had a point. “Just wasn’t what I was expecting.”

  “I know,” She nodded. “Me either.”

  My heart skipped a beat when I realized what the six witches were standing around.

  “Oh my God,” I whispered, gripping Abigail’s arm. “Is that—is that Jo?”

  As I looked down Abigail looked away.

  “It is.”

  I let go of her arm slowly walking towards them. Abigail stayed a few steps behind. Standing in front of everyone I looked around—looking for approval, I suppose—before dropping to my knees taking one of Jo’s hands in mine. I felt Abigail’s hand on my shoulder as she dropped to her knees beside me.

  “You know I didn’t completely believe you when you told me she had died. I thought—just a small part of me thought that maybe you were joking,” a cold tear ran down my cheek.

  “I wish I was. I really wish I was,” Abigail whispered. I looked over to see a tear fall from her eyes, too. “Chase would have loved her.”

  Chase.

  “She did what needed to be done,” I looked up to see a woman with orange hair had stepped out of the semi-circle they had formed around Jo.

  I nodded looking down at Jo. She looked so peaceful, almost as if she was just sleeping.

  “Ryan, the pendant,” Abigail whispered tapping my shoulder.

  I looked over at her taking a moment to register what she said. Letting go of Jo’s hand I took the pendant from around my neck. I looked up at the group waiting to be told what to do next. The woman glanced down at Jo before stepping back. Once she joined the circle again they began to hum. I looked back down at Jo.

  “Place it in her hand,” Abigail whispered.

  I did as I was told, leaning back on my heels once I did. Abigail grimaced taking her hand from my shoulder covering her mark.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Ah, yeah. Yeah,” she answered through clenched teeth.

  I looked past her as something caught my eye. A leaf had lifted from the ground returning to the branches. I pushed Abigail’s hand away from her arm.

  “Ow!”

  “Look!” A leaf rose to Abigail’s tree too. “That just happened over there.”

  “Ryan, it hurts,” Abigail said placing her hand over mine.

  “Sorry.”

  “She’s with the Spirits now.”

  Abigail and I both looked up to see the group all standing calmly, with their hands folded together in front of them.

  “She’s gone!” I place my hands on the ground in front of me.

  “Where’d she go?” Abigail asked.

  “She’s with the Spirits now. She’s safe. She’s watching.”

  I looked back at Abigail who had the look of shock on her face that I felt.

  “Fell free to look around. If you have any questions feel free to ask. One of us will come with an answer.”

  Both of us looked back up to see the group had disappeared.

  “That’s so weird,” I said pushing myself to my feet. I turned, to help Abigail to hers. “Weren’t we supposed to be able to figure out what to do next here?”

  “Well, that’s what I thought. But maybe spending a few days here is what we need to do.”

  “Do we really have a few days though?”

  “Maybe we have no choice?” Abigail shrugged.

  “That doesn’t seem right to me,” I replied shaking my head.

  “Me either. I hate not knowing what to do or what’s coming next,” Abigail sighed walking over to the truck. “But—” she stopped once she placed her right hand on the tree. Her head bowed as her other hand covered her mark again.

  “Abigail, are you okay?” I asked taking the few steps between us. I placed my hand on her shoulder before quickly retracting it. What felt like electricity ran through my arm when I touched her. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

  She shuddered then she dropped to the ground, breathing heavily.

  “What happened? Are you okay?” I asked kneeling down beside her.

  “Ah, ow!” She rubbed her arm. “Yeah,” she leaned back on her heels staring at me.

  “What? What’s wrong?”

  “Ryan, I—I—I think I know where Chase is.”

  “What?” I asked in disbelief. “You do?”

  “Yeah, I think so,” she nodded.

  “Then what are we doing sitting here?”

  “No, Ryan, you don’t understand.”

  “What am I not understanding, Abigail,” I snapped. “We need to get Chase.”

  “We can do that but—”

  “What? But what, Abigail? What?” I yelled throwing my hands up.

  “I have to go to Limbo. I think—I think I might have to be captured.”

  “Excuse me? What? Where is this coming from?”

  “I’m—I’m not entirely sure,” she shrugged. “When I touched the tree I—I saw Chase.”

  “He’s in Limbo? I was there. I didn’t see him. Couldn’t find him anywhere.”

  “Well, I saw Aaron.”

  Anger rose inside me.

  How could I leave Chase behind?

  “Listen, I don’t know if I completely understand what I just saw. But if it is true then I need to go to Limbo. I need to get down there.”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?” My face twisted in disapproval.

  “Because you got out. He has no idea that you slipped through his fingers. You can’t go back there. But I will need your help.”

  I could tell by her eyes that I was quiet for longer than she was expecting. “Okay, what do you want me to do?”

  “You’re going to help me figure out how to get to Aaron.”

  “Get to Aaron?”

  She shifted, crossing her legs in front of her but making sure not to touch the tree. “Yes.”

  “I don’t understand. Didn’t you say you needed to be captured?”

  “Well that’s what it looked like but if I could talk to him maybe he would give up information and I could skip the capturing thing completely.”

  “You think you can talk to Aaron?” I asked trying not to laugh.

  “Weirder things have happened I would say,” she said as she pointed up at the tree above us.

  “I think Aaron talking is weirder, to be honest.”

  “Are you going to help me or not, Ryan?” She snapped, dropping her hands into her lap.

  “Yes, o
kay. Yes. Of course, I’ll help you.” I nodded. “Actually the day I escaped the guards were doing their rounds—that’s how I got out. They came to the doors. Opened them and everything. If you’re there when they come up maybe you could—” I paused. “—ask to speak to Aaron.”

  She stared at me for a moment. “Well, that’s the best idea I have heard so far.”

  “Should we ask them what they think?” I asked pointing around.

  “Sure?”

  Before I even had the chance to think about it the woman with the long orange hair was standing beside Abigail and me.

  “Whoa!” I was surprised by her sudden appearance.

  Abigail and I both stood.

  “Do you know anything about what just happened?” Abigail asked pointing her thumb over her shoulder. “Do you know if I’m understanding what I just saw right?”

  “No. Unfortunately, that is one thing I am unable to help you with. That experience was all your own. You have a special connection.”

  “Great,” Abigail mumbled.

  “I’m terribly sorry. But if there is anything we can do to help, we will.”

  “Thank you,” I nodded.

  “Wait!” Abigail’s head shot up. “Can you find Owl? I can’t leave Ryan alone.”

  Owl?

  “While you were gone we have been trying to find him and we believe that he’s still in Ether.”

  “What?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

  “What?” Abigail repeated.

  Still here?

  “Yes. We believe we have connected Charlie and Owl. He can go with you. Once you find him he will fly back to us.”

  “Charlie? Who’s Charlie?”

  “Hey Charlie,” Abigail smiled as a raven landed on her shoulder.

  “That’s Charlie?”

  “Yes, he was Jo’s.”

  “She and the Spirits will try to keep him on track. He’s what we like to call a special spirit. He’s hard to keep focused sometimes, and now that Josephine is not here to calm him, his behavior has been less than stellar but hopefully now that Josephine is with the Spirits she’ll be able to tame him a little bit.”

  “Well, that’s it then,” Abigail clapped her hands together. “We get back to Ether City, find Owl, then I’ll meet up with Aaron for a little chit-chat.”

  I sighed. “To bad it’s not going to be as easy as it sounds.”

  “One more thing before you leave. This is for you,” the leader of the council handed me an envelope. She turned without another word and join the others walking back inside.

  “What’s that?”

  “Don’t know,” I flipped it over breaking the melted wax seal. I opened the folded piece of paper. I handed her two loose pictures inside before reading the note out loud:

  Ryan and Abigail,

  I pray to the Spirits that you have found one another. And your friend Chase too. I’m forever sorry that I wasn’t able to help you find him.

  I would just like to ask one favor of you two. I know you have more important things to be worrying yourself with but would you please, please try and find my daughter, Olivia. Keep an eye out for her. I know that she’s out there somewhere.

  Please be safe. The Spirits and I will be watching over you.

  Jo

  Abigail flipped the two worn pictures so that she and I could see them. One was of a young girl with light brown hair sitting on a front porch eating an ice cream. The next picture was a younger Jo with her arm around the same young girl from the other picture. It was clear that this was her daughter, Olivia, with her.

  “Gosh, she looks so familiar,” she said, holding out the pictures for me to see.

  “Who? Jo?”

  “No, her daughter. Olivia,” she replied. “I feel like I have seen her before.”

  “Really?”

  She nodded, handing me the pictures. “I’m not sure where though. I’ll have to think about it.”

  I placed them back in the note before folding it back up and placing it in the envelope. I slid it into my inside pocket on his jacket. “We better get going.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN - ABIGAIL

  “Why is it so dark? Weren’t we supposed to get back before nightfall?” I asked looking back at Ryan.

  “We should have been. I don’t know what’s going on,” he replied. “We didn’t lose that much time.”

  Charlie crowed.

  “We must be almost to the City.” I squinted, trying to see.

  “Come on, we better get inside just in case. I don’t have a good feeling about this right now,” Ryan grabbed my arm pulling me along before I had a chance to move my feet faster myself.

  “What makes you think that inside the city walls is going to be any safer?”

  “I know places.”

  “You know places? What the hell does that even mean?” I asked making a face at the back of his head.

  “Yes, you know, hiding places.”

  “Okay? So hiding places make it safer?” He dropped my arm pulling at one of the doors.

  He turned, glaring at me. “It makes sense in my head, okay?”

  Charlie crowed ducking between us as if to tell us to end the argument before circling around us, flying through the door.

  “Yeah,” Ryan pointed over his shoulder at Charlie. “God, Abigail.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “Like this was my fault.”

  “Well...”

  I twisted my face. “What does that mean?”

  Ryan turned walking through the doors.

  “Hey, wait!” I walked through the door grabbing his arm. “What does that mean?”

  “Nothing.”

  Charlie crowed.

  “What is my fault?” I growled.

  “You did open the door. Darkness. All that good stuff,” Ryan pulled the door closed walking past me as the raven hovered impatiently in the air.

  “Wait, hold on,” I pulled on his arm to face me. “Are you blaming me for all of this?”

  “No, no,” Ryan shook his head, looking down at the ground.

  “What do you mean then, Ryan? Because it sounds like you’re blaming me.”

  “No, that’s not what I mean Abigail.”

  I stared at him. He broke our eye contact.

  Charlie crowed.

  “Oh shut up. You can wait one minute!” I yelled up at the bird. He flew around to hover behind Ryan.

  Oh Great. The bird is even against me now too.

  “Can you explain what you mean then?” I snapped, crossing my arms.

  “I’m sorry,” he sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets as he looked up at me. “I have just been thinking a lot lately and one thought that crossed my mind was what if you never opened the chapel doors. Would have all of this happened?”

  “And?”

  “Well at first I thought not. But the longer I thought about it and the crazier it got in the cave the more I began to think that it was probably better that it ended sooner than later. What if that fight had continued? We were beginning to become outnumbered very quickly. We were running out of options. What were we going to do? Run back to Ether? Then what? The longer I thought about it the more I thought that maybe this was a good thing.”

  “This? Is a good thing?” I asked in disbelief.

  “Well, no. But the fact that the climax of the war was quick is a good thing. Yes, people are still dying and yes Ether is somewhere down in Limbo in a cave. Yes, we have no idea where Chase or Michael are. Yes, it looks like we’re royally screwed. But, just look at how far we—you have come already come. You have found this new city, with your tree which must mean something. You found me. These are good things. We’re on our way to finding Owl then Chase. This is good right?”

  “You make all of this sound easy.”

  “It’s the hardest thing that any of us have ever gone through. Probably ever will but my point is that we do have things to be happy about.”

  I stared at him again. “Okay, so let me just get
this straight. This is my fault that all of this happened but it’s okay because I’m fixing it?”

  “Well... no. I never meant to say that this was your fault. It’s not—”

  “But if you said it that means there must be something inside you that blames me.”

  “Well there might be but consciously I don’t think this was your fault. How could it be? You didn’t even know about all of this—” Ryan waved his hand through the air. “—until a few months ago. How could this be your fault?”

  Somehow Ryan had just offended me and backed me up within the span of a few minutes.

  “Thank you?”

  “I’m sorry, Abigail. I have just been thinking too much and I think I just need to tell someone to see if it made any sense.” Ryan shrugged.

  “Well, a little tip. Next time you need to talk about someone might sure it’s not to them,” I smiled walking past him.

  “That’s a good tip. I remember that one,” he nodded, turning to walk beside me.

  I laughed. “Charlie, where are we going?”

  As if he was a child that was just told that he could open his Christmas presents he took off down the left path.

  “I wish, sometimes that they could talk to us so they could just tell us where we're going and there wouldn’t be any surprises,” I complained as we tried to keep Charlie in our sights. “Can you understand Owl?”

  “Is it weird if I say yes?”

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Most things yeah. I think over time we’ll understand each other better, that is if we find him.”

  “What are we doing right now?” I asked waving my hands down the path.

  “I know but what are the chances that he’s actually going to be here? You already said that you looked everywhere.”

  “Well, apparently there are lots of hiding places that I don’t know about,” I smirked.

  “True,” Ryan nodded.

  “I don’t think that he would be in any of these places though. I talked to Owl for hours and never got any answers. It just won’t make sense either. Why would he be in some hidden corner?”

  “I’m not the one with the answers,” Ryan answered.

  “And I am?”