Copula Chronicles: The Complete Collection: Origin, Descend, Ascend, Legacy

by Venessa Kimball

  The heated Copula suddenly cools to soothing warmth and a tingling vibration just below my skin. Just like the sensation of the medal in Onawah’s hand, I feel tendrils of tinkling heat fissure and diffuse into my arms, under my chin, onto my face, spreading into my abdomen and along my folded legs.

  The flames suddenly rise, causing me to blink.

  ***

  The shaman is sitting across from me again, chanting faster. The brothers, the gentlemen, the men Onawah loves, flash in my mind along with the shaman pulling me toward the mounds, the kiva. My mind releases the images as I feel my body lighten like it had in the vision before. Onawah looks down suddenly. Is she feeling the same sensation I do?

  I’m still sitting on the floor, unmoved, but the lightening feeling continues. I notice Onawah’s mother backing away from me, covering her mouth with her hands. She is frightened. What does she see?

  The shaman’s crooning intensifies, filling each syllable with his passion as a messenger for Onawah. The drumbeat echoes through the sacred room as I feel myself continue to disconnect from the ground.

  Unexpectedly, I feel the same sensation of myself peeling away from Onawah’s body. I leave the ground and rise up, levitating above the entire kiva, looking down at the scene of the sacred ritual taking place. I look at Onawah’s sitting form, her head tilted up and the amber glow of the medal in her palm beams rays of light in every direction, covering the entire kiva in light. Onawah’s mother falls to her knees, stares wide eyed, and mouth gaping in fright.

  The sound of commotion and yelling comes from the opening above us. I look through the opening and see his face, the dark-haired brother struggling to descend the kiva’s ladder.

  I look back down at Onawah. Her olive eyes are fixed upward fastened on something beyond our world. Onawah doesn’t flinch as the soldier yells her name, but her mother does. She rises quickly and looks up into the gape. She waves her hands and shakes her head as she hisses her native words at him. I watch her turn and pace along the far end of the kiva’s walls tears streaming down her face and holding her shaking hands to her trembling lips. Abruptly, someone drops from the recess above. I see the familiar uniform of the soldier in the vision, but I don’t see anything else because two native guards drop down on him and hold him down to the ground. Watching this man struggle to break free, I feel my own heartbreak sensing that it has to be one of the brothers attempting to save Onawah from the legacy.

  Rapidly the wildfire from the pit beneath me rises high, blinding my view of the soldier struggling to break free from the natives. Instinctively I shield my eyes from the heated assault as the brother’s yell swells, “Onawah!”

  ***

  “Jesca!”

  Hearing the call of my name sends a spike of adrenaline through me and I’m snatched from the mystical trance I’m under. I look around me and see that I’m still above the flames of the fiery pit, just as I was in the vision. Instead of looking down at Onawah, I’m looking at myself kneeling in front of the fire, my eyes wide and fixed upward into the heavens. I see the struggle to my left. Nate! He is trying to break free from Luke’s hold. In an instant, my hovering spirit is siphoned back into my body.

  CHAPTER 43: SURRENDER

  Jesca

  He can’t do this! It is my purpose, my choice! Hearing Nate and Luke’s struggle, I force my eyes open to see Nate strike Luke across the face. Luke goes down instantly, knocked unconscious by the blow. My eyes feel so heavy and my body is weak. I try to keep my sight on Nate, but everything goes dark as my eyes shut me out from the world, from Nate.

  It is Nate’s electrifying touch on my shoulder that gives me some strength to open my eyes again.

  “Nate, no,” I mumble lazily. My words come out muffled as I try to pull farther from the spellbound coma I’m under, but I can only pull so far. The disconnect, it is already happening.

  Ms. Olivia’s urgent chanting battles to overpower Nate’s panicked, quick words.

  “Jesca. I don’t have much time! The hybrid Dweller!” He groans loudly like he is struggling with the being within him now.

  I try to formulate more words, but they come out slurred. “Let me go, Nate. This is my—”

  I feel both of Nate’s hand take hold of my shoulders. He pulls me to him and wraps his arms around me. His hold sends a familiar spike of warmth and healing course through me.

  His words are breathless as he tells me, “The moment I met you, I knew I had to protect you, love you.”

  “You have,” I whisper raggedly.

  I feel my body slowly waking and I lift my arms from my side to try to push him away. “I have to do this. It is my choice,” I say with more force.

  Nate breathes in shakily as he rests his lips next to my ear. “What if it has never been your choice, Jesca?”

  Those words strike a chord in my mind.

  He said those words during our fight by the truck when the hybrid Dweller tried to attack me. Had he planned this since that moment?

  Nate continues, “Just as the legacy runs through your blood, it runs through mine.”

  The brothers. Oh my God, she was torn between them. She left to fulfill the legacy and one sacrificed himself for her.

  As the imaginings of Nate and Xander’s relation to the two brothers solidifies in my mind, my heart clefts in two. I try to use all of my gained strength from Nate’s received energy to push him away, but he only embraces me tighter.

  His voice cracks and draws in a breath as he says, “I choose you, Jesca. I choose to set you free, to live, to fight for our world—to love. Love Xander with your whole heart, Jes. Do you hear me?”

  I can’t keep my heart from breaking and my soul from crying out to him. I wrap my arms around him and tell him, “I love you, Nate.”

  “I love you, Jes.” The words slip from his lips, carried by his final breath, and his body leans into me, weighted down with the sacrifice he has made.

  I hold him to me and cry. As the earth beneath us begins to tremble, I open my eyes. I see particles of dirt and dust rising from the ground, hovering all around the kiva. The dirt and dust begin to collect and spin around Nate and me. Holding him to me tightly, I watch in fascination as a radiant glow ascends from us through the shaft of the kiva, out into our world.

  ***

  I follow the illuminated, spirit-filled dust as it shoots from the mound into the sky, like a rocket aimed directly at the three stars in my visions, Orion’s Belt. As soon as it strikes, a ripple of amber energy spreads across the sky in every direction. In the ripple, small orbs of light begin to descend on the earth around me.

  I see the guardians fighting; Siobhan, Nick, Elicia, Jake, Corinna and Sam are battling the Dwellers and attack side by side. Ira, Cale, Lathan, and Seth are battling the birdlike Dwellers and the waves and waves of human Dwellers trying to attack the mound. Just as Ira climbs on top of a wounded beast, one of the orbs of light comes to rest on the creature’s body, quickly absorbing into the torso.

  Ira pulls back, frozen and in awe of what he is witnessing. He slides from the mutant hawk and watches what happens next. Suddenly, a ripple courses over the beast’s body. Ira slides from the mutant’s body. The birdlike creature blinks its sharpened eyes, shifting from the onyx darkness of the Dweller to its true honey-brown color. Rapidly, it rolls over onto its talons, begins to flap its wings then rises, taking flight.

  The orbs continue to shower on all of the Dwellers occupying creatures and humans. As quickly as they free the vessels, they rise up toward the three stars of Orion’s Belt.

  Seth, Cale, and Lathan gather around Ira as the guardians stop fighting and look on at the orbs mission, to cleanse our world and bring about the rebirth.

  ***

  A startling burst of sound jolts my body, waking me from my vision and funneling me back into the kiva.

  My eyes are still closed
as I rock Nate in my arms. I know his presence the moment he touches my shoulder––Xander.

  I hear him breathing through the sob growing within him as he wraps his arms around me. I see his hands rest on Nate’s back, encircling him too. His ragged sobs grow and he holds both of us in his arms.

  I’m not sure how long we cry and hold each other. Time was standing still for us as we held on. At some point, someone wrapped a blanket around the three of us.

  After a while, the guardians enter the kiva, circled around us, close their eyes and laid their silent thoughts upon us. When they come to take Nate from Xander’s and my arms, I sit and watch, the embers of the fire pit expire. Xander remains by my side.

  I’m the first to break the silence. “He wanted us to live.”

  I look over at him just as he nods and stares off into the dulling embers. I uncross my legs and tuck them under me, rising unsteadily, but standing on my own two feet. I look down at Xander, still staring off beyond the light smoke rising from the pit. I stretch my arm out and open my hand to him. He looks up at me, eyes red and swollen. Slowly he raises his hand to meet mine and I help him rise from the kiva floor. We climb from the sacred place and walk along the fallen rocks in the main tunnel. Dim sunlight shines through the opening at the far end of the passage, entrance back into the world.

  As Xander and I exit the tunnel side by side, the heavy clouds above part just enough to send multiple rays of sunlight upon the valley in the center of the mounds. Humans and creatures are peppering the valley alive and free to live in our world with no fear of capture.

  I feel Xander’s hand take hold of mine as we watch our world’s new cycle begin.

  CHAPTER 44: EPILOGUE

  Jesca

  Marietta, Georgia—3 years later.

  I walk along the sidewalk; golden, orange and red leaves race along ahead of me as I watch Tessa and Xander walk hand and hand. Shiva is padding along beside me, then she decides to trot ahead to catch up with Tessa.

  Shiva turned up the day after the purification. She was covered in dried dirt and blood, but no injuries. The only thing we could think was that she hid.

  Xander looks back at me, a light knowing smile pulls at his lips. “Tessa, let’s go visit Elicia,” he says.

  Tessa’s voice instantly animates, “At the bookstore? Will Nick be there today?”

  Xander nods at Tessa, and then looks back at me. “See you in a bit?” he asks.

  I nod at him and watch after them as they cross the road.

  Other people, mothers, fathers, children, are walking along the sidewalks carrying on with life. A few cars pass beside me as I walk along. I see a man bending down to pick up something a woman dropped seconds before, a scarf. A young woman and man pass me, walking hand and hand smiling. Feeling the warmth from the sky, I look up at the golden glow of the sun shaded behind thin wispy clouds as I continue to walk at a slow pace.

  It’s been three years since the day humankind was given a second chance on the Earth. We haven’t had a climatic shift, but Sebastian, Balthazar and Caleb are working hard to make sure that if it does happen, we will be prepared.

  The night of the purification, many died. Nate’s parents were among the ones who fought to keep the compound from being breached. I like to think that Nate found them beyond the veil as soon as his spirit rose from the Earth.

  It took a long time to find myself after Nate died, Xander too. He found his comfort in research. Sebastian and he both did actually. Now that the legacy had been fulfilled, Sebastian wanted to learn more about the Creek Indian tribe and the soldiers that helped them. Sebastian and Xander spent day after day rummaging through records at city hall, at the library, at the Etowah Museum of Archeology, anywhere they could find out more about the originals of this legacy.

  Onawah was a Creek Indian princess after all. Her father, the chief of the tribe, was murdered during battle, leaving her mother to raise her. Records show she had married an Onoch, Robert Onoch, an explorer. I was surprised because I’d suspected she had married one of the brothers, the soldiers.

  Xander and Sebastian discovered the names of the soldiers among the tribe. It was tedious, but they found the brothers. Strangely enough, they were twins. Xander happened upon the birth date, thinking it was strange that two names recorded had the exact same birth date. Putting two and two together, literally, they found them. Beside the birth date was their dates of death; both died within two years of each other. It left Xander with many questions as he continued to seek out his ancestral line since it seemed to reach a roadblock.

  Sebastian told him that the soldiers could have very well had families of their own back home, children to carry on their bloodline. This encouraged Xander to keep looking, researching, seeking for answers. I think it helped him cope with Nate’s death too.

  My coping took a while. I’d lost Ezra as well as Nate. It was a blessing that I’d inherited a six-year-old girl who needed to be raised. She helped me cope more than she could ever know.

  Every day I woke and told myself to live, be alive, just like Nate told me in the kiva. At first, I didn’t completely understand how his sacrifice worked. With much discussion with Ms. Olivia and remembering my mother’s last contact with me when she told me that there are many forms of sacrifice, I came to realize that in a way Nate’s sacrifice of life was a sacrifice for me. Just as Onawah lived because one of the brother’s died in her place, I’m alive because of Nate. He had figured it out before all of us.

  Roan, Delilah and Bethany survived the battle. They decided to move back to our house here in Marietta. Xander, Tessa and I moved into a vacant house a few blocks away from them to be close to each other. After a year, with no one returning to reclaim their house, we started fixing it up, making it our home.

  Balthazar, his son Marcus, Caleb, Sebastian, Caleb’s wife Eve, and their little girl Emelie all survived as well. A year after the purification, Sebastian pleaded that they all return with him to the Onoch Estate. He said he wanted the house to be filled with family and happiness, something it never really had. He pleaded with me too, since I was an Onoch, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave now that I was home.

  With the global grid returning to larger cities, communications and travel slowly returning to our world, it has made communicating with Sebastian and the rest of the Onoch clan easier now that they are back in Colorado.

  The guardians, Elicia, Nick, Corinna, Sam, Siobhan, Jake, Luke, Daniel and Ms. Olivia, decided to stay here with us in Marietta as well.

  Two children run past me laughing suddenly, briefly pulling me from my thoughts.

  A week after the purification, Ira, Seth, Cale and Lathan left our world and returned to theirs. Ira refused to say goodbye. I was torn by that sentiment, happy that we might see him again, but weary for it might be under similar circumstances.

  I stop walking as I see the sign hanging above titled “Margot’s Deli.”

  The cowbell suddenly rings and a woman comes out with a bag in hand. The smell of fresh bread wafts from the door before it shuts and the woman continues down the sidewalk ahead of me. As the wind blows my hair from my face, I hear it carry the sound of the clock tower chiming on the hour.

  The university re-opened last year. The guardians made it happen. The re-opening was in honor of Ezra. Elicia, Nick, Corinna, Sam, Siobhan, Jake, Luke, Daniel, Isabel and Ms. Olivia took up on campus residency and positions. Elicia and Nick took over Benson’s bookstore too. Elicia decided to make some renovations to appeal to the youth. Tessa makes it a mission for us to take her in at least twice a week for Licia time.

  As I pull the door open, the cowbell rings, announcing my entrance. The tables are mostly empty, with a couple in the far back table. I walk along the booths and slide into ours.

  “How are you feeling today?” asks the waitress.

  I smile and look down at my swollen belly ten
derly. “Better.”

  “Same? Rueben and peach cobbler?”

  I nod and smile at her. “Yes please, and water.”

  She winks, clicks her pen on her notepad and turns on her heels.

  I haven’t heard Anna or Ezra since the purification. I thought it was temporary, but the longer I don’t hear them, the more I think that they have parted from our veil just like Nate. I find peace in knowing that Anna and Ezra’s souls will never be apart again now that they have reconnected.

  I look at the silver napkin dispenser in the center of the table. I pull a napkin from it gently and set it in front of me. Taking one edge of the napkin, I fold it over to touch the opposite corner, remembering the day Ezra changed my view of a napkin and my reality.

  I stare at the folded napkin, lying flat on the linoleum table, and whisper, “Always connected. Time nor place can separate us.”

  We are all keepers and guardians of our reborn world. This reality is just one in a sea of many realities, many illusive veils. Today, the human race is safe, holding the awareness of threats fresh on their hearts and minds. Like human nature has evolved, the fresh wounds will heal and the desire to expand, discover, explore, and seek will return; another veil will be pierced, another tunnel explored.

  I look down at my growing abdomen and rest my palm over the risen crest––the child growing inside of me.

  Until that day, we will adapt, evolve, survive, and live.

  The End

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Having always been passionate about the written word, Venessa Kimball embarked on writing what would become her debut novel, Piercing the Fold: a young adult urban fantasy series in 2010, with a 2012 release with Crushing Hearts Black Butterfly Publishing, it quickly finished out as a four book series. Venessa has also written a compelling teen contemporary series, the Evan series.