by Laury Falter
“We’ll go in together in pairs,” said Ezra. “Maggie and Ms. Beedinwigg, you two will go in last.”
Ezra and Rufus paired up and stepped into the cave, being swallowed by the darkness within three steps. Campion and Felix followed. Finally, it was just me and Ms. Beedinwigg on the outside peering in. She looked at me firmly. “You are the most important one here. Do not sacrifice yourself.”
It was odd how well she knew me when I had only just met her.
I looked back towards the mouth of the cave. Somewhere inside was the only man I had ever loved. If it came down to sacrificing myself there was nothing that would stop me.
I took the first step and she came up behind me so that we entered the darkness together.
The light inside had been a minor concern for me, not knowing how we would be able to fight without seeing, but it was erased with each step farther in. Oddly, we could see the walls, the rock path where we stepped, the ceiling and its varying heights of stalactites. I couldn’t identify where the light came from and could only assume that it came from all around us. Every rock inside glowed, dimly but it glowed.
We headed deeper into the cave, coming across alternate corridors that led us in varying directions. Ezra, who seemed to have an innate sense for the direction each led, knew which one to take and guided us farther into the mountain’s core.
“We’re getting close,” I said quietly.
The group stopped and turned in my direction.
“How do you know?” asked Ms. Beedinwigg.
“Just as Eran can sense my emotions, I can sense his,” I explained to her. “I figured you already knew that.”
“Nope, that’s something I hadn’t come across yet.”
“What are his emotions?” asked Felix, tentatively.
“Right now…” I drew in a shaky breath. “He’s angry.”
There were no comments on my announcement but I could guarantee we were each thinking the same thing: If Eran was angry, that meant trouble ahead.
We started walking again, each one lifting their weapon a little higher.
No more than a hundred feet farther in it started to happen.
The pain began at the base of my neck, along my hairline. It rapidly intensified, stretching beyond my neck to run through my spine. Within seconds it was shooting out to ever nerve ending in my body. For a split second, I wondered if I’d just been struck by lightning. Then I thought nothing at all. My awareness was completely immersed on the pain now absorbed in every part of my body. My radar, meant to warn me against danger, to protect me from it, had become the source of my danger.
Control it, said the voice in my head. You’ve done it before. Concentrate. Do it before they find you because if you feel them, they feel you.
I was on the ground now, my knees digging into the sharp, rocky earth, hands on my back attempting to comfort me. My breath was caught in my chest, my body was shaking uncontrollably. I think I released a moan.
Then something broke through the pain.
Someone was giggling.
The laughter was at my expense and that meant one thing.
A Fallen One was watching me.
Focusing on it, using it as a distraction from the pain, I lifted my head.
There, directly in front of us was Sarai, her face beaming, unable to contain her enthusiasm over my pain. Behind her stood Achan who couldn’t hold back his grin either.
The sight of them gave me the strength to overcome the pain and stand up, though it was a struggle.
In the midst of my alarm sounding off, my senses magnified and I could hear everyone’s heart beat quicken, a commotion of celebration coming through the walls, and most of all I could feel Eran seething with rage.
“Leave her alone,” I heard Felix growl.
Ezra put a hand on his arm to steady his emotions, knowing an angry fighter was a dead one.
“It’s not…” I took a deep, stifled breath. “It’s not them… causing the pain.”
“You’re right, Magdalene,” she said, drawing out my name and finishing with a sneer. “It’s not me…It’s not Achan…It’s everyone. They’re all here, for the most part. Some left,” she admitted without care, “after we released them-”
“You did release them,” I stated, furious to almost a dizzying level.
“Them? Who’s them?” asked Felix, bewildered.
I could barely gather the control to tell him, sapped of energy, filled with terror for the first time in my life. I felt my lips quiver when I answered him. “The Elsics. They released the Elsics.”
Horror moved across their expression, to Sarai and Achan’s satisfaction.
“We did,” she replied plainly. “Achan killed the guards, I opened the gates. But don’t worry your pretty little head,” she mocked. “The majority of them are here, ready for the grand finale.”
Grand finale, I thought. Those were the same words Abaddon had used in my past lives when he’d planned a destructive climactic ending.
“Abaddon…” I sighed, realizing for the first time why we were here. Sarai’s next words confirmed it.
She nodded, her sneer turning to a proud grin as she declared, “Eran’s pitiful diminutive army imprisoned him here to rot but I wasn’t about to let my father live through that.”
“Should have simply killed him when they had the chance,” Achan added from behind, chuckling.
“But that’s not the only reason you came here,” I said, already piecing together her plan. “You left a trail for us. You led us here for another reason.”
“To kill you,” she confirmed, flatly. “Of course, I did release the Elsics on the presumption they might do it for me. Something told me, however, that they would take their time with you. Tease you, taunt you. Keep an eye on you.” She inhaled, excited. “And they did, didn’t they? I can see it in your face.”
She was right. I thought back to the Elsic feather left in the cemetery, the one who attacked me in the shed, the dozen waiting in the fog just off my balcony. They had been around me all along.
“Then Eran’s loyal confidant, Magnus, went missing. I found him in the rocks…” she whispered as if she were confiding a secret. “And I kept him there, appearing only when he gained the courage to escape, and he’d scamper back into his hiding place. And then Eran arrived,” she went on coyly. “Eran, ever the brave savior, came in search of his loyal confidante, Magnus. Alas, Magnus fled. Slipped out from under my nose as I dealt with Eran. Gone was the little troll only to leave Eran himself to be caught.”
“Magnus left Eran?” Campion fumed.
“He did. But that’s not the most intriguing part.” She smiled wickedly before continuing. “Magnus’s disappearance brought Eran to us. And now Eran’s disappearance brought you to us. You, the last of the messengers…here, surrounded by your enemies. The final battle…”
“Well, rumor had it one was coming,” I said trying to appear indifferent. I would not give her the pleasure of interpreting my responses as fearful even if I did feel a hint of it.
“Unfortunately, the battle won’t be much of one.” She pinched her lips together in a frown. “There’s so few of you and so many of us I’m afraid it’ll be over so quickly.” She twisted around then and said to Achan, “Would you like to call in the cavalry?”
Achan spun around into a crouch, preparing to take flight and announce our arrival, but Rufus didn’t give him the chance.
The behemoth Irish man I knew to be heavy and languid sprang lithely over Sarai and landed with a thud on Achan’s back. Felix and Ezra were at his side instantly, pummeling every side of Achan’s body.
Campion, Ms. Beedinwigg, and I took on Sarai.
She saw us coming and immediately used the only supernatural power she’d brought with her. “Campion, I’ve missed you,” she said in a rush. Despite the insincerity of her words, Campion collapsed to the ground, tears already flowing, groveling like someone begging for his lover to return.
“Fight it, Camp
ion,” I urged. “You aren’t in love with her.”
She smiled impishly, already drawing her sword. “He doesn’t know that…”
I spun to face her, doing my best to restrain the anger swelling in me. My senses were still heightened and I could hear Eran grunting against his restraints. He was close by and that gave me hope.
Yet, it wasn’t my sword that wounded Sarai. Ms. Beedinwigg spun across the ground, fluidly slicing her sai through the air. It connected with Sarai’s torso, leaving a gash across her waist, blood quickly flowing from the cut.
Sarai released a raspy growl and heaved her own sword up to plunge it forward.
My senses, still heightened, allowed me to see where it would land…directly in Ms. Beedinwigg’s back. I leapt forward, coming down on Sarai. Her distraction in countering Ms. Beedinwigg left her an open target. She was completely vulnerable, allowing me the opportunity to strike where it would do the most damage.
The tip of my sword slid across her neck in a single swipe, taking with it the chance that she could ever again use her voice to debilitate another man in her presence.
“You’ll never convince anyone else they are in love with you ever again,” I told her, standing over her body which now lay sprawled on the ground.
Chocking against the blood filling her airways, she could only convey her wrath through action. She sat up, reaching for me, her blade extending out in hopes of connecting with any part of my body that would take me to eternal death with her.
“You missed,” I told her as she closed her eyes for the very last time.
Stepping away, I turned my attention to Achan. He was now in pieces strewn across the cave’s opening.
Ezra, Felix, and Rufus stood in a cluster, now turning towards us. They were winded but alive.
“Achan’s claim to distinction is his strength,” I said. “Nice job.” I stopped and shook my head in amazement. “I didn’t know you all were good fighters.”
Felix chuckled, still bent over, hands on his knees. “We should be…you trained us.”
My head jolted back just as soon as I comprehended those words. How could that be? I thought. They…They were just my housemates. I had met them only a few months ago.
“He’s right,” Ezra confirmed, walking towards me. “You probably don’t recall it.”
“No…I don’t.”
“You trained more than messengers, Maggie,” said Ezra, nodding. “And we are a few of those Alterums who participated.”
I briefly stared back towards Achan’s dismembered body, frowning. It was increasingly frustrating not to remember such important details of my past. Conceding that there wasn’t much I could do about it now, I simply replied, “I’m glad you did.”
Everyone’s breathing was slower now but we didn’t have much more time to recuperate. We realized this when a screech resounded through the cave, echoing off the wall towards us.
“Elsics…They know we’re here,” said Felix.
“Then we need to leave,” Ms. Beedinwigg insisted.
“Not without Eran,” I said, already starting to walk again, farther into the cave.
With Sarai gone, Campion was standing again, furiously wiping the tears from his face. “No, not without Eran,” he agreed.
Ms. Beedinwigg came up beside me and then stepped in front. “Stay hidden,” she commanded before turning towards the others. “Let’s move.”
The screeching continued, building to hysteria inside the cave’s corridors. The sound came from a centralized room in the heart of the mountain, where we followed it to an opening overlooking the cavern inside.
Below us, hundreds of black, winged creatures moved in waves across the room, some leaping into the air and landing on the backs of others, some crawling up the cave walls to leap into the mass below. All of them excitable beyond measure.
Only one body was not moving. He was bound to the wall, arms and legs in shackles, high above for all Elsics to see. He was swollen and bloodied but his head was lifted and he stared back at them with unshakeable determination.
“Eran,” I sighed and instantly stepped forward.
Ms. Beedinwigg held up her arm, stopping me. “A distraction,” she instructed, “will create the leverage we need in getting both of you out of here safely.”
“I agree,” said Ezra attentively. “What do you have in mind?”
“I’ll find my way to the side farthest from Eran and call their attention. With their backs turned and their interest on me, you can unbind Eran and lift him to safety.”
Ever fearless, Ms. Beedinwigg moved towards the entrance.
“Just a second,” said Rufus in his uncompromising Irish voice. “Dontcha go thinkin’ ya’ll be takin’ all the glory. Been a while since I had me a good fight. I’m overdue. ‘Sides, how’d ya plan on getting’ down there without these?” He shook the wings behind him. “I’m the fastest one here. Leave the commotion upta me.”
Without permitting anyone the chance to oppose him, he dove through the opening and soared into the cavern below. Roars suddenly vibrated off the walls, telling us that Rufus’s entrance had been noticed.
Peeking in to the cavern, we saw him circle the room and then flee through another opening across from us, into another corridor. The Elsics, spun into a circle following him like a string of bees following an intruder in the hive, and shortly afterwards the room was vacant.
“That was a better idea,” Ms. Beedinwigg pointed out.
I didn’t really care. I was now worried about two things: Rufus’s safety and Eran’s escape.
Unable to do much about the first one, I acted on the second.
“Will someone lift me and Ms. Beedinwigg down there? And Campion, Felix will you untie Eran?”
We didn’t hesitate and a moment later we entered the cavern.
Eran was already looking for us by that point. Having recognized Rufus, he knew the rest of us were close behind. Although, he didn’t count on me being there. That much was evident when his eyes landed on me.
Ezra had hold of my elbow, allowing me the opportunity to hover directly in front of him as Campion and Felix went about untying his bindings.
Every part of my being ached to hold him, to clean the blood from him, to nurse his wounds. I couldn’t believe what they had done to him.
Something itched running down my cheek and I realized I was crying. I brushed it away, enraged.
“Stay calm,” said Ezra, noticing my breath quickening. “He’ll recover.”
“Ezra,” said Eran, barely able to speak against the swelling in his face. “Get her out of here.”
“I won’t leave…I won’t leave without you.” I felt my head shaking back and forth though I didn’t feel like I had any control over it.
“Ezra,” he warned again and when she didn’t move he tried to reason with me. “Magdalene, you…” His voice cracked and he swallowed hard, the terror he felt showing through. “You cannot be here. There are too many of them. I cannot protect you. Leave.”
His pleading did no good. “No,” I replied flatly.
“My army?” he inquired, nervously addressing Ms. Beedinwigg.
She shook her head, her face tense. “Back in New Orleans… restraining the Fallen Ones there.”
Furious, Eran refocused his efforts. His hands now untied, he worked on the bindings at his feet. Felix and Campion worked with fervor too, loosening them as quickly as possible.
“You’ll be free soon and we’ll leave here together,” I said.
“Listen to me, Magdalene,” he said, not bothering to look up, his breath coming in short gasps now. “It’s a complex system of caves. There are multiple entrances and exits. If you go, you can find a way out now… before they return.”
Ms. Beedinwigg had been deposited on the floor below, keeping an eye on the cavern’s entrances and any sign of returning Elsics. She was silent until now, until she made the announcement we all hoped she wouldn’t.
“They’re coming back.”
>
“Go! NOW!” Eran roared.
“There’s no time,” said Ms. Beedinwigg. “There’s no time.”
Just as she released the words, a stream of black entered the cave and raced towards us.
Ezra had already placed me on the ground and lifted herself into the air. She now blocked me from above while Ms. Beedinwigg blocked me from the floor.
“Protect Magdalene,” Eran ordered, causing Felix and Campion to abort their attempt at untying him. Eran feverishly began the process of releasing himself as they came to hover on the sides of me. Rufus, still in front of the wave of black creatures, swooped in and landed a few feet from me, forming a shield with his body.
Through the white wings stretched out in front of me, I saw nothing now but a sea of black. Tainted teeth or the whites of eyes glinted in the midst of them but for the most part it was simply a chaotic inky black wave of creatures eager to tear us apart.
Something, however, seemed to be stopping them.
“Welcome…welcome, my dear captor.”
The voice of the winged being now floating down in to my view could not be mistaken but it was Eran who addressed him.
“Abaddon, you will regret anything that happens to her.”
Abaddon came in to full sight then, hovering just beyond Ezra, Felix, and Campion and in front of the Elsics as if he had somehow tamed and taken leadership over them.
“I don’t think you’re in any state to be threatening me,” Abaddon said before snidely chuckling to himself. “None of you are.”
I shifted for a better view of the prisoners, attempting to use my engaged senses to predetermine their next actions. I could foresee the next steps each one would take three deep in the group. After that, their preconceived actions became a blur.
“Don’t worry, Magdalene. They won’t make a move without my say so.”
“And how did you get them to agree to that?” I asked, trying to buy us some time.
He seemed surprised by the question. “They still have their logic. And being the logical person that I am, I explained to them if they were to attack you all at once many of them would be left out of the opportunity to take a piece off the very person who brought them here. You, my dear, are a very hot commodity. And with some Elsics having all the fun and others being left out of it…well, that leaves those who didn’t participate in the entertainment of your death with a vindictive side. And we wouldn’t want the Elsics fighting amongst themselves, now would we? Not when I have a perfectly fine plan in which we can each take a piece of you.”
