"Have you not described yourself and your wife as such? Haven't the angels confirmed that you have such a bond with Caeli? So, it is not only me that is abusing my relationship with her, is it? By maintaining your link with her, you are killing her. Because you selfishly refuse to sever your connection, you are ensuring her death. In fact, you are finding it very difficult to save her, aren't you?" Antonius smirked and stood silent now, letting his words have the fully intended impact.
Vin staggered as if the words physically struck him. He began to feverishly review everything that he had been told regarding himself and Caeli. Their connection, the warnings against contacting her, the fact that all his attempts to save her kept failing. The angels had indeed known. They must have known. Raphael even told him that he could not save her like this.
But Vin began to calm his initial reaction. Raphael gave him the clear impression that Antonius was the key to saving Caeli, so there had to be a way. There had to be more to the story. Raph would not lie to him. He trusted the angel over this sniveling worm. Vin just needed to discover how to save her. He needed to know more. The deacon had to have an ulterior motive for telling him all of this, other than an attempt to defer Vin’s fatal retribution.
Antonius watched carefully. He could almost read the thoughts as they crossed Vin’s mind. His next strike was precise, and he landed it while he believed Vin was still too unsettled to counter his ploy.
"Vin, I can help you. I do hold the key to her safety. I have to bring the barrier down. Only then can souls on both sides truly be free. Unions will be eternal. Life and death will no longer be at the whims of self-proclaimed, higher beings. We will be free to act as we see fit without the constraints of mortality. It will be the ultimate salvation. You can still help me. If I can use that body to access the book, then we can save Caeli together. The two of you will be happy reunited. Without the barrier, nobody will have to suffer like this ever again. Tell me where you hid the body." The eagerness in his voice caused him to rattle quickly through each successively more appealing statement.
It was that same eagerness which caused Vin to increase his wariness. And, as tempting as the entire idea sounded, Vin knew more about the barrier that this madman did. Vin had actually read most of the Book of Elements. Antonius was not likely to believe him, but Vin was going to use that knowledge to his best advantage. Vin knew that his response would force the deacon to play his last card. Vin was ready for him this time.
"It sounds good, but it cannot be. After all the time you’ve spent studying the intricacies of the barrier and the elemental forces sustaining it, I'm surprised that you still do not know why the barrier stands. Don’t you get it? The barrier is a part of the earth itself. It is constantly being assaulted by cosmic forces as it defends the planet from catastrophic events. It is the very reason that life can exist on this planet while the rest of the universe is so surprisingly devoid of similar evolution. At times like the passing of this comet, when a greater exertion of the barrier's energy is expended to shelter our precious lives, you know the barrier is weakened significantly. But, if you succeed in taking advantage of that weakness, the planet itself would die," Vin explained patiently.
"Before the barrier, man existed as a brief, evolutionary miracle. Then a meteor hit the planet and every man’s soul was released from its physical body. Yet, our souls are bound to the energy of the earth. We continued to exist in our ethereal state, much like the utopia you described, but it was not enough. Our memories of the prior existence gnawed at us. We lacked the tactile sensations that our earliest ancestors had known before cosmic misfortune disconnected us from them." Vin glanced up to see that Antonius was listening, uncertain if his words were understood. He continued to share the knowledge he gained from the book.
"The barrier was erected from the core elements of the earth to prevent such cataclysmic disasters from happening again. Without it, the astronomical inevitabilities would long since have annihilated this tiny globe. Once the barrier was formed, this single blue planet was able to sustain life within its sanctuary. Our father placed two beings upon its shores to repopulate our species. Now we are born from our ethereal state into a physical existence. Mankind has thrived this way ever since," Vin completed the explanation.
"That cannot be true. Why then do we perish? Why do we relinquish our physical state against our will?" Antonius asked, bewildered. The sharp, incredulous look Vin gave this man who stole Vin’s own life betrayed the anger he barely held in check. Regardless of the deacon’s intentions, the fact remained that he had killed Vin and tried repeatedly to kill Caeli. For that, Antonius would pay, but not until Vin was able to convince the man to provide him with a means of saving his wife. Vin could not unleash his anger yet.
"It is a simple balance. If too many of us are on this side, using the natural resources of the planet, the barrier is weakened. Natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes are the planet’s way of trying to restore the balance and reclaim its resources. Through death, we give back to the planet that which we have used to sustain us. You really should try reading more. For a well-educated man, you seem poorly informed as to the natural order of life and death," Vin emphasized the deacon's shortcoming.
"What you suggest is reincarnation. Each being is reborn time and again? Would you have me believe that the earth is a big recycling plant for our souls?"
"No, I did not say that. I said we are born, not reborn, though there are some cultures that believe a strong soul can return. I do not care to indulge in such theories with the likes of you," Vin’s irritation with the man was beginning to slip into his words.
"Even if I could believe your wild tale, which I do not, it would not explain the angels and other supernatural beings," the deacon began rejecting Vin’s theory.
"Yes, it does. Not all souls wanted to return to a physical existence, and some of those were not content to remain in the assimilated consciousness with the other souls. So they were given special assignments for monitoring and safeguarding the lives on the earth as well as the skills necessary to do so," Vin concluded.
Antonius laughed deliriously. The sound was morbid and sickening.
"That was a very good story. You almost fooled me. But angels do not safeguard life. If they did, you would not be here right now. Nonetheless, I applaud your effort."
"And it will be the last thing you do."
Vin could no longer stand to be in the man’s presence or hear the sound of his voice. He focused his efforts and squeezed the air completely around the man. Vin did not linger to torture him as he did Kent. He just wanted this to be over. Vin hoped that with Antonius’ death, the energy preventing him from rescuing Caeli would subside. After a few raspy gasps for air, the deacon finally stopped breathing. As soon as Vin released the pressure of the wind, Antonius’s lifeless body collapsed onto the empty bed, eyes staring upward at nothing, book still clasped to his chest.
"For Caeli."
Vin was leaving to return to Caeli, disturbed by his effort to have a rational conversation with a lunatic. She needed him, and he had to get back as quickly as possible. Vin prayed that he would be fast enough to save Tabbris and Urim as well. Out of the corner of his eye, Vin saw a bright amber glow appear around the recently deceased’s neck, and then he heard a mocking laughter.
"At last! I'm finally free!"
Vin felt a wrenching sensation as he was yanked across the room and pinned to the wall.
"What the…?!" Vin tried to move but was effectively restrained. He began to panic. Had he miscalculated? Did Antonius trick Vin into thinking he was dead? No. Vin was certain the man was dead. That wasn't it. What else could he have overlooked? Whatever it was, it was vitally important.
"You look surprised. Didn’t I tell you that your every decision has been manipulated?" Antonius laughed again.
Vin looked around. He could not see Antonius yet, but he was well aware of his nemesis’ presence. Somehow, the deacon managed to keep his soul he
re rather than moving across the barrier as it should have. That must be related to the glow Vin saw.
"You really should learn to think for yourself, Vin, but I take great pleasure in explaining it to you. I mixed a vial of Dalla’s blood with my own and painted the appropriate symbols on my skin to bind my spirit to this side. It was quite simple really."
Vin struggled incessantly to free himself without success. He could feel points where the deacon’s hold over him weakened, but Vin could not figure out how to break free. The turbulent winds in the room evidenced the ferocity of his efforts.
"You cannot win free of me. Remember, I have been at this a lot longer than you have, and I prepared this especially for you. It will contain you as long as I wish. That will be just long enough for me to track that body and, since it is currently unoccupied, inhabit it myself. Then I will have the vitality of his youth as well as the power of his bloodline."
"You will not find him. He is beyond your reach." Vin bluffed as if he knew where the body might be.
"Oh, we’ll see about that. You will tell me what I want to know or I will tear it from your mind. You may have departed your flesh, but I know a trick or two about tormenting souls. You will tell me," Antonius assured him.
The deacon unexpectedly shimmered into view directly in front of Vin and reached out to place the palm of his left hand over Vin’s forehead. He rested the other directly over Vin’s heart. Images began to flash through Vin’s mind as if being torn from the pages of an album. Each image sent searing pain through Vin and left him feeling weaker with each passing memory. It was as if his soul were being torn apart piece by piece.
The images that were called forth were relatively recent, from just moments ago and all the way back to the time of Vin’s death. Then they stopped abruptly. Antonius found what he sought. It was an image with which Vin had a keen familiarity. There was a clearing in the middle of a forest with a recently fallen tree across the center. This is where Vin’s ordeal began and a fitting place for it to end. This is where the body would be hidden, though the deacon was surprised that Vin had discovered the connection between the woods outside this building and those in which he died.
Antonius had led Vin to that clearing on that fateful, stormy night. It took considerable effort for Antonius to travel there in his unusual manner, but it was worth the effort. The events of that night had been the catalyst that set his whole plan in motion. During his battle with Michael, the elemental forces had ripped the clearing apart, creating two identical glades; one here and the original in the woods where Vin died.
"Clever of you to hide the body there," Antonius announced, "but it will not help you. I go to claim it, and you can do naught but hang out and wait while I finish what I started." Antonius left. His image faded away, and his presence dissipated.
Vin knew that he was gone and knew exactly where he was going. Unfortunately, Vin could not free himself to follow. If Antonius was able to possess the body of someone with the correct bloodline, there would be no stopping him.
Almost at once, Vin felt another presence in the room with him. At first, he thought Antonius had returned, but this was not an entity Vin had met before, though it did have certain familiar traits. A brilliant light burst forth from a sword of deep navy blue, floating before him. The sword was swung in a wide arc, landing scant inches above Vin’s head with a resounding crack, and then rebounding to strike just below his feet, emitting another peal as of metal against metal. The resultant vibrations worked their way up and down and to each side of Vin as he hung helpless against the wall.
After a minute, the force that held him diminished and suddenly vanished. Vin was free. His rescuer was not immediately visible, but Vin knew he was there.
"I don’t know how you did that, but thank you. I must go to stop him, if I can."
"Let not your anger guide you. Follow your heart instead. It will not lead you astray, Brother."
The presence was gone. Vin didn’t have time to ponder what underlying message might be interlaced with those cryptic words, so he just decided to accept them as assurance that he should proceed. Vin should stop Antonius from reaching and possessing that body.
CHAPTER 35
Caeli held on to the thick, prickly vine with all her remaining strength. She was already exhausted, and her arms began to tremble with the continuous strain of clinging to that lifeline. She glanced down into the pit just once; that was enough. The forces and enmity she felt pervading its source and ascending from the depth were more than she could tolerate in direct view. They seemed to surround her, take hold of her, and tug against her tenuous hold on life. Caeli felt death reaching up to snare her.
Was she ready to die? For a brief moment, it almost seemed inconceivable that she could go on living without Vin or that she might survive the enemy determined to bring about her end. Caeli even thought that her death might release Vin from his obligation to protect her. It could free him to stand against the destructive forces the deacon released.
"You do not believe that." The voice was soft, no more than a whisper, but firm in its assertion.
She heard the voice near her, but could not locate its source. It did not sound like Vin. She knew every tone and inflection of Vin's voice, and this was not it. Yet, this voice was kind. It reminded her of her precarious situation and brought her out of her gloomy thoughts.
"No. I do not want to die, and Vin would not want me to give up. He would not want me to take the easy way out either," she answered the unknown voice.
"In that, you are correct."
"Yet, I cannot reach the rim. I haven’t got the strength to pull myself up, and whatever is down there is pulling me toward it. I do not know how much longer I can hold on." Caeli faced the reality of her situation.
"You are not alone. We are with you. Rest on us."
She felt a new firmness beneath her feet as if a ledge had grown out of the sheer rock of the wall. The support took the pressure off her arms, and Caeli was greatly relieved for the respite from the strain. Then she closed her eyes and felt a serenity envelope her as she waited for any change in her situation. A gentle mist wafted across her, cooling her body and refreshing her mind.
"Thank you," Caeli responded.
"I don’t suppose you can raise me out of here, can you?"
"No. The forces below hamper us as well, but while we are able, we will not let you fall."
"Then I need to find a way to help myself so that your aid is not in vain." Caeli looked up and could barely discern the rim against the gray backdrop of the sky. It was the same distance as a two story building was high, which may as well have been the Sear’s tower for all she cared. Caeli was not going to be able to climb that far, though she intended to try.
She raised her foot slightly from the support of her unseen friends, and turned it several times in a circle, wrapping the vine snugly around it. After gently testing her weight on the vine, Caeli pushed upward and straightened her leg to its fullest extent, reaching up with one hand and then the other to grab hold of the fibrous and leafy vine higher above her head. The added stress on her aching joints brought to mind a prisoner stretched on a medieval torture rack.
She wrapped her hand and wrist several times within the vine, and kicked her foot free from the encircling twine. Caeli hung a moment, suspended by her wrists, and then felt the support restored beneath her feet. She looked up again and was disheartened to gauge that she only gained a foot. At that rate, her probability of success was low. But, she gathered her strength and repeated the process four more times before she was utterly exhausted.
"Rest now." The cool mist enshrouded her again. Caeli closed her eyes, but she did not loosen her shuddering grip on the trailer that was her only connection to the world above, keeping her away from the death that waited patiently below.
Salma tended to Ben’s injury with an improvised field dressing that effectively stopped the bleeding. They had not been able to see anything transpiring on the top of t
he ridge since Vin sent them away. However, Salma felt both Vin’s anguish and Caeli’s fear like she was punched in the gut twice. Something had gone terribly wrong up there.
Ben tried to help ease Salma's worry, but it was useless. Salma knew that Caeli needed her help, but, through all the turmoil in the air, she could not easily figure out the details by using her gifted senses. Salma tried to call to Vin, but he was beyond her ability. She refocused on her friend's plight then and finally got through to Caeli.
"Caeli, where are you?"
A new voice, female and familiar, sounded in Caeli’s mind. She roused herself from her rest and looked around. Her situation was unchanged, though the support beneath her feet was not as firms as it had been a few minutes ago. It was now a little spongy. Caeli was still physically alone in the mouth of a monster.
"Salma! I can hear you. How can I hear you?"
"It’s a long story, one we don’t have time for right now. Tell me where you are. How can I help?"
Caeli described her predicament, with the exception of her invisible support, and Salma was greatly alarmed. Her voice in Caeli’s mind was silent again for quite some time. Caeli felt a desperate loss with that silence. Hearing Salma brought Caeli some comfort and washed away the feeling of isolation she’d been experiencing.
"All right, Caeli. You just hang on for a little bit longer. We are coming to get you."
Salma wanted to return by herself, but Ben would not permit it. He placed his arm around her shoulders, and she supported him as they slowly climbed the hill, making their way back to the spot where Ben received his injury. The battle raged largely unseen around the pair. The only people they could view directly were the assailants in the field below. They were clearly confronting another force near the top of the hill. Neither Ben nor Salma had the inclination to linger long enough to discern any details of the opposing force.
The Book of Elements Page 33
