Eliza fumed. She inhaled deeply to slow her racing heart, "What the hell was that?" She asked. "Let's just start there, okay?" She rubbed her temples, hoping that some minor detail could help make sense of what was going on. At least then, I can think of a plan.
"Fair enough," Cezar said. He stepped out of the darkness and into the light of the fire. Eliza shrieked back—terrified, but mildly intrigued, "What the...What the hell are you?"
Cezar had grown to a height that dwarfed her five-foot frame. He'd had the full face of a jungle cat, and stood upright. He'd donned, what appeared to a robe of earthy brown yarn. It covered most of his body. What skin of his had been exposed, was covered in thick black markings that rose up from its surface. He extended an arm to her, in the hopes that it would quiet her fears, "Please, my child. Touch my hand, and see that I am real. I will not harm you."
Eliza stood to her feet and shakily brushed her fingers across his padded palm. She gasped. Memories of her adopting Cezar, years earlier, flashed before her eyes. All at once, she was inexplicably comforted.
The situation had still confused and frightened her, but she knew that this was him. This was her cat—whom she fed and nursed back to health; who'd kept her company in her darkest moments. "Cezar?"
"Yes, Eliza. It's me." Cezar gave her, what looked like a smile. His mouth was large enough to swallow her whole.
"But, I don't..." she paused, "Cezar, what the hell is going on?"
Cezar dropped the hand to his side, and walked closer to her—with his enormous, weathered fangs exposed. "I descend from a line of immortal beings. As do the two men who've assisted me in bringing you here. What you've seen, is something that few other outsiders throughout time have ever witnessed. It is one of many, gifts that we've been given to protect this world, from those who wish to harm it. It keeps us hidden in plain sight."
Eliza gazed across the fire at the two men who'd broken into her apartment. They'd been bickering over the little food that had been prepared. She squinted to see them in better detail. The Englishman had removed his coat—large reptilian wings floated behind him, as he wrestled with his partner over a slab of meat. His face was tattooed, and though he appeared—somewhat—human, his skin was rippled and coarse looking. "You're aliens?" Eliza queried and looked back to Cezar.
"Nothing so drastic. Biologically, we can be considered hybrids of a sort." Cezar turned to look at the two quarreling men. They'd been throwing punches until the larger accomplice finally took flight with a bag of rations. Cezar didn't seem to mind it much, "Some of us are more evolved than others." He joked. Come. Walk with me."
Cezar pulled a hood over his head and trekked in the direction the moon. Eliza followed. She was tense but knew that she'd had little other option.
They made their way through a wall of leaves and bushes.
Into the darkened arboretum.
***
The forest was unlike any that she'd seen before. The branches of the trees had extended throughout their redwood trunks—from top to bottom—and seemed to part their branches for the moonlight.
Cezar was able to walk through them with little effort. He'd held the tree-limbs, as Eliza followed, to create a clear path for her to walk through. Though she'd tried to deviate from his footsteps—once or twice—she found that she couldn't move them with her strength alone.
Eliza couldn't explain the living sensation that had overcome her as they traversed the woods, but it felt as if she'd been surrounded by billions of conscious beings. The ground was soft and sand-like, yet had the fluidity of an untainted ocean.
When she stepped, it'd surround her foot, but once raised, the earth would fall from her skin as if she'd just immersed it in water. The dirt would run off from the base of her heel, then descend smoothly back into the ground. It waded until it rejoined the solid soil soul whose inner workings had known of their presence. The forest was alive.
"Cezar, where are we?" Eliza asked again. This time, she'd been genuinely curious, rather than speaking purely for the sake of distracted befuddlement.
Cezar laughed, "Well, I suppose that if we had to place it—somewhere around the Appalachian Mountains. Closer to Canada, if you need a point of reference." Cezar continued to clear the path as Eliza followed behind him, gazing at her surroundings, amazed.
"Cezar, that doesn't make any sense. That's on the other side of the freaking country."
"It's a much more pleasant trip when you fly."
The stars shone brightly above them—several had shot past her as she gazed into its' seemingly endless seas of fleeting lights and the clear, purple, darkness that spiraled behind them. To her, it looked like the world had been spinning implausibly fast. As deafening as the sight was to behold, she couldn't help but feel enraptured by the moment; taken by it.
Eliza followed Cezar. He continued, "I must apologize again for the method of which we had to remove you from your realm." He stood at a clearing amidst the trees and held back a row of branches so that Eliza could pass, "Normally, we would ask permission of the carrier. But, once again, time is of the absolute pertinence."
Eliza walked past him, as he let go of the branches. He'd taken her to a large body of water—a lake that was lit with fluorescent green lights at its bottom. She'd been so enamored by the sight, that it'd left her speechless, despite her veritable list of questions. She looked upon the lake, enticed until a word brought her back from bewilderment "What do you mean carrier?" Eliza said.
Cezar shirked his head back—nervous and slightly embarrassed to answer, "Well, my dear child, there is no easy way to say this..."
"Time is of the utmost importance, right?" Eliza quipped as she dipped her fingers into the glistening waters, "Spit it out, you big pussy."
"Uhm," Cezar grunted.
"What? It was just a joke. And, newsflash," she flicked her dampened fingers at Cezar, "It's not entirely inaccurate."
"Right." Cezar balled his fist, and raised it to his mouth to cough, and clear his throat, "I suppose that it'd be easier to tell you myself. Besides, he'll be here any minute to fill you in on what I cannot."
"That's better," Eliza said with a punitive tone, "And, who's coming?"
"More on that, later." Cezar walked to the edge of the lake, beside Eliza, and sat. "Sit down Eliza. Please." She sat beside him. Though his appearance had made her uneasy his voiced proved an effective relaxant, and certain enough to earn her temporary cooperation.
"As I said, our people are ancient. For millennia, we've protected this realm—that we share with you, humans—awaiting the day for both races to bisect at similar points in evolution. Then, and only then, would we be able to connect our worlds, and experience a life transcendent from the basic monotony that we are currently entangled with."
"You've lost me."
Cezar laughed, "I fear that will continue to be the case. Simply put, when we originated and diverged from the primordial ooze, some of us, like myself, kept the genes of our forefathers. Others, like the two brutes who've accompanied us, were spliced; forced to walk this earth as a general oddity. We knew the humans would never accept them, so we did. They've done well enough. And other's still..." Cezar paused.
A strong gust of wind parted the branches of the trees ahead of them. The illumination of the lake grew brighter. Cezar appeared worried, but as the shadowy winged figure came closer, his anxiety melted into a stoic comfort.
His lips curled back into his short orange mane—again exposing his teeth, "It's time, Eliza. Here," Cezar removed a flask from his cloak, "Drink this. It will answer everything."
"What is it? Whiskey?"
Sensing that he had little time to explain, he agreed, "Yes! The finest whiskey that you could possibly imagine. Now, if you please."
She looked at him perplexed and tipped the mouth of the bottle between her lips. The figure had delved down from the skies and been making its way over the massive body of water. A dizziness came over her, but she ignored it—putting it off as a q
uick buzz, courtesy of the alcohol.
"Time for what?" Eliza whispered. A steady tingle began to fill her toes and crept its way up and throughout her body. She was short of breath and filled with an ecstasy that she couldn't source to anything but her mystified sense of wonder, and coming the coming ethanol-driven warmth. Flashes of lives-lived bolted into her mind and played like she'd been watching them on a screen.
Cezar noticed her fall into the trance. "You truly are the one, aren't you? I knew from the moment that I'd laid eyes on you. I promised him. I promised that I would find you, and I have."
"What are you talking about? I adopted you from off of the street. You used to bite me and hate to bathe." Eliza rubbed her eyes, hoping that the thoughts rushing through her mind would cease or slow, but to no avail.
"Clever acting, I'm afraid. Although, you could feed me a little better food."
Eliza's nipples became erect as the gusts of wind grew stronger and swirled around the two. The coming figure had landed in the midst of the lake and had seemed to be walking atop its waves. Each of his steps was preceded by solid bursts of flame. "Cezar, what's happening?"
"An epoch, my dear. I am of an ilk devoted to overseeing vast shifts in realms, and the protection of those who are to protect it and guarantee its safety. Dozens of us were sent out to search for the mother of mother's—who's seed would connect the races, and return us all to one utopian universe. To give birth to that which shall ward off the evils and give rise to the light. You Eliza are chosen for this task. You're ovulating!"
"Cezar!" Eliza panicked.
"I must go, my dear. It will all make sense soon enough. Be well." Cezar stood up and rushed to the shrubbery. He looked back once more to watch the winged figure approach the bay. Eliza watched as well. She was frozen—overwhelmed by an emotion that she couldn't place.
"And he shall arrive on, a winged sky, to claim grandeur, and foster peace," he said. Cezar bowed his head quickly and then fled into the twilight of the trees. Eliza had heard him leave but remained still as the approaching shadow stepped foot onto the bay. It emanated a pale maroon aura outlined in golden tint.
At once, Eliza's mind came to an abrupt pause. She exhaled a sigh of relief. And gazed upon the figure who was a stranger mere seconds ago—with passion in her eyes.
She stood to greet him as his wings retracted, and he took the shape of a man. Once in arm's reach, she touched his skin—a burst of light shone and dissipated. Eliza smiled.
She remembered.
***
"Because, you bloody asshole, I'm the oldest. So, I get the bigger turkey leg. It's simple mathematics. Stop being a half-wit." The Englishman glided through the trees, making his way back to the campsite. He'd been arguing with his brother and had just provided a lengthy answer to another one of his "dumb" questions.
When he looked at him, mid-flight, he saw nothing. That bloody bastard's thrown a tantrum, he thought. He returned to the ground where they'd been hiding. To his surprise, the luminous fire had been extinguished. "Ergon!" He called and received no answer, "This isn't funny bruv, show yourself!"
There was a loud rustle amidst trees that startled him. He jumped back, with his arms raised. Worried, he relinquished a nervous laugh, "Alright, asshole. You've got me. Come on then. Quit the charade." Still, there was no response—other than the rustling branches and chirping birds. He lit a cigarette, taken from the pack that he'd stolen from Eliza, and tossed the match back into the pit—the fire roared once more, but he found that he was still alone.
The crunch of dried leaves and dead twigs on the ground stirred him. "Show yourself!" He screamed. The crackling of the forest grew louder. "There you are!" He ripped the gloves from his hands, and flicked his razor-sharp claws against the bends of his fingers, "Are you sure that you want to die today, mate!" Still, no answer. The noises grew even louder as they approached.
"Ergon! I swear to Christ, if that's you in there, you'd better announce yourself." The Englishmen readied his attack. A body emerged from the shrubbery. "Ahh!" He shouted incoherently and charged for the branches.
Cezar had dodged just in time to prevent his throat from being cut, "Am I to believe this is a mutiny? Treason? Even from the likes of you, that's sorrowful."
"Cezar?" The Englishmen cowered back, "Listen here, kitty, I don't have time for your condescension. Ergon's gone missing. You have to help me find him."
Cezar rebuffed, as he collected their supplies, "There will be no time for that. The King has arrived, and he and his Queen are consummating as we speak. We're done here, Tomlin. Now get your things, before the merge."
"You little rat bastard. You plan on leaving my brother here to rot? You know he's slow."
"Say what you will. I've explained our arrangement to the both of you, countless times. If he wants to wander around the forest, so be it. That's his issue. Not mine. Though, I have no qualm if you make it yours."
"Piss off! After all, we've done for you?"
Cezar picked up his bag, "You knew the arrangement, I can't..."
"Tomlin!" A heavy voice echoed through the forest, "Tomlin! Help me!"
"Ergon! Is that you? Where in the hell are you?"
"Diggers!" Ergon's cries were cut short, by the sound of him gagging and gasping for air. "Ergon!" Tomlin screamed and spread his wings. Before he could take flight, Ergon's mutilated body had fallen from the sky and landed into the fire. Tomlin dove at the pit to save him. Cezar grabbed his leg before he could reach his brother, and pulled him back, "Stop, you idiot. Didn't you hear him?"
"Let go of my fucking leg, Cezar! That's my brother!"
"And he's gone, Tomlin! We have to go, now! Unless you want to be next!"
A screeching howl shot through the sky, stealing both of their attention away from Ergon's burning corpse. Cezar looked to the stars with dread. "We have to get to the King. Come on, Tomlin!" He released Tomlin's leg and sprinted back through the forest from which he came. Tomlin laid on the gritty soil and watched as his brother's body burned to ash.
***
"Do you know me?" he sauntered toward Eliza as if he'd been coming to meet someone that he'd known for all of his life. His shoulders were broad and moved like something heavy. His arms swung distinctively by his sides—each one looking as if they'd been carved in flawless marble stone, by an exquisite artist.
Eliza brushed the leaves out of her hair and wiped the debris from her face. She didn't know what was about to happen, but she'd wanted to look her best. Whomever this coming stranger had been, she'd decided by his walk, that it was someone that she'd need to impress.
His feet grazed through the grainy sand—as they scaled down—from treacherous talons to a semblance of human feet. He said nothing. Eliza stared at him. She'd felt inadequate and undeserving at first, yet the subtle tinge of desire sprung her forward. Her mind cleared as she gravitated toward the naked man. Without thought. Without hesitance. It felt right.
Soon, she was in his embrace. She placed her face deep within the top of his abdomen and began to weep. He didn't react as startled, nor surprised. He held her tightly in his arms—resting his chin on top of her head. Her tears ran down his skin, to his thighs. She didn't understand what had been happening, but it was the most whole that she'd ever felt. "Tell me, my queen." The man said to her, "Why do you cry, so?"
Eliza hadn't thought of an answer. As if possessed, she pushed forth "I've dreamt of you all my life," she buried her head deeper in between his chest. She was unable to stop herself from lowly giggling—realized the spectacle that she'd been making, "Please tell me that this is real. Please tell me that it's not a dream."
The stranger stroked her hair softly, "I am Eli. Ruler of this realm and the promise of unity. I've come to you, birthed of fire, because it has been written for ions, that our souls would meet again. You, Eliza of the next realm, are destined to be my wife. Together, we will birth a son whom will bring about the prophecy that many have foreseen. I wouldn't lie to you about this
. You have my word, as king, that this is real."
"This is crazy," Eliza said, wiping the tears from the ridge of her nose. "I don't know what's going on. Why do I feel like this?"
"Does it hurt, my darling?"
"No." Eliza pulled her head away from Eli's chest and looked up to him. His eyes were a beaming hue of gold and shined off of his tanned skin. She wiped the locks of hair from his face, and looked into them with longing—like she'd been seeing for the first time in her life, "It's the greatest thing that I've ever felt."
"It's destiny, Eliza. Two souls, lost in time, meant to be joined. Our love is one that has lasted millennia and will continue to thrive. Should you so choose."
Taken Hostage Page 9
