by Hanna Peach
“Should we call the lion a monster?”
Israel frowned. “No.”
“Even though it kills the antelope in the wild?”
“Well...no, the lion just does that to survive.” Israel realized where the Elder was taking this conversation. “It’s not the same thing. Demons are evil. My demon blood...it’s evil.”
“Why?”
“The demons, they take the lives of humans.”
“To survive on this planet, yes?”
“...yes. But they also take over the bodies of other humans. That isn’t for survival.”
“But they gain the mortal’s permission, no?”
“Yes, but−”
“The lion does not ask the antelope for his permission to eat him. The demon gains the mortal’s permission to take his body. Does that not make the lion more evil than the demon?”
Israel couldn’t think of anything to say to this.
There was a mischievous twinkle in the Elder’s eyes when he spoke again. “Perhaps then the lightwarriors should stop killing demons and start killing lions.”
Israel pressed his lips together. “So you’re saying that we should just let the demons take over this planet as they plan to? That we should just lay down our arms and let them?”
“Not at all. We must do what we need to survive. My point is this...should the lion hate itself?”
The candles flickered and it caused the glow of light to dance across the Elder’s face, heightening the smile that tilted up his lips.
Israel frowned as he considered this strange conversation. This Elder certainly had an odd way of looking at things. “I guess not.”
“Right then. Enough distraction,” the Elder said, snapping Israel out of his thoughts. “Snuff out the candle.”
Israel blew out a deep breath, which tousled his hair that had now grown long enough to fall across his forehead. “Should I point to it or something?”
“It is your gift. You tell me how you use it.”
Israel made a noise in his throat. He felt a little dumb stretching out his palm towards the candle, like a child would naively do after watching that movie Star Wars. Use the force, Israel, use the force. This thought made him chuckle a little.
“Focus.”
Israel cleared his head and stared at the candle with a grim determination.
Blow out... Blow out... Blow out, please?
The candle just wavered softly as if it were chuckling at him. Suddenly a sharp sting across the back of his leg caused Israel to flinch. He had been so focused on the candle he hadn’t noticed the Elder had moved around him so that he could whack Israel with his cane.
“What the−?”
“The candle.”
“But I−”
Thwack. On the same spot as the first hit. The sting turned into a burn.
“Ow. Okay, dammit.” Israel turned back to the candle, fighting his annoyance with the Elder, his leg still smarting from the two blows. He stared at the candle, trying to demand it to snuff out. The candle just sat there taunting him.
Thwack. The burning pain flowed out from his legs. It made his eyes water as it swirled inside his body like a small tornado. It reminded him of something the Elder had said, “Everybody feels angry but then we let it go. You...you swallow your anger and direct it towards yourself.”
That’s what this swirling pain felt like...like he had swallowed a tornado. His anger was a tornado. And he had to let it go.
Just let go.
With that thought, Israel felt a part of his insides crack, like a glass balloon that was taking on too much air. The crack erupted and the energy inside him scattered like a set of fireworks. The air in the room shook with tremendous movement and panic. It whipped at Israel’s clothes and hair so much that he had to squint.
Then the air settled. The room looked dimmer. Israel looked down at that candle, then around him. The flame before him was still alight. But about half of the candles around the room had been extinguished.
“I did it,” Israel said, and he felt a little bubble of joy well up inside him.
“Did you?”
“I did. I accessed the power. I accessed my gift.”
“Of course. It is part of you. But now see,” the Elder spoke from behind him. Israel turned to face him. “See how anger causes you to use that energy inside you.” The Elder waved his cane around the room.
Israel felt the bubble of joy dissipate in exasperation. “So I didn’t snuff out that one stupid candle. But look at how much power I was able to create. Look at how many other candles I was able to extinguish.”
“Imagine that the candle in front of you was someone you had to fight against and the candles around the room were those you love. What say you now?”
Israel felt the blood drain from his face when he realized what the Elder was saying. He stared at his hands. He noticed the veins showing through the paler skin on his wrists. His veins, filled with demon blood. And now that demon power he had unleashed was uncontrollable. What if he unleashed it on someone he cared about? Like Mason and the boys. Or Alyx?
“How...how do I fix this?”
“There is a greater power than anger. And unlike anger which controls you, this power is given strength through your direction. You must learn to use that instead.”
“What is it? What is this power? Knowledge? Truth?”
“I cannot tell you. You must learn it for yourself.”
“What? But you can’t just leave me like this,” Israel could hear the strain in his own voice.
The Elder smiled. “I am not leaving you. I will help you to find your own answers but I can’t give them to you. An answer given is not an answer learned. Do you understand?”
Strangely enough, Israel did.
Chapter 26
Alyx fidgeted in her chair. Israel had avoided her since he had returned from China. To try to make herself feel better, she had told herself that she was avoiding him. But every second that went by without seeing him, without speaking to him, without knowing what had happened in China built up the dizzying pressure inside her so much so that she thought she may burst and go crazy. Or go crazy then burst. Well then, going crazy and bursting could just fight it out over who got to go first.
Now Israel was here in the same room as her. So close but so far away. He was sitting on the other side of Tobias’s office, next to Vix. Of course. Vix, who he went with to China. Vix, who he had partnered with instead of her. These thoughts sliced her insides.
Alyx forced herself to focus on the screen at the front of the room as Dianne showed Lukas’s memory of Saudi Arabia. Lukas commentated as they watched his memory of flying over Mecca.
The Great Mosque was a like a city in itself, the irregular structure covering over 88 arches of ground with nine minarets, tall spires with a pointed dome crown, lit up and reaching for the sky. In the center of the structure was an outdoor praying area.
“…large enough to fit over 800,000 mortals,” Lukas was saying.
In the middle of this praying area was the Kaaba, the cube-like building that sat in the center. The Black Stone was cemented into a silver frame that sat in the Eastern corner of the Kaaba. Over the course of a single year, millions of mortals made a religious pilgrimage to the Kaaba and to touch the stone. The surface of the Black Stone had now been worn smooth.
“The mosque closes at night, but there are guards who continue to walk around the area,” Lukas said when the memory came to an end. “And caretakers who come to regularly anoint the stone with oils.”
“Any ideas for this location?” asked Tobias.
“That place is massive,” said Jordan. “We couldn’t just come in through the doors and steal it. We would have to come in from the air using a mirage.”
Tobias nodded. “We could use one of my Miragecharms. But how do we remove the stone?”
Alyx chewed on her lip. “Could an Alchemist alter Black Stone?”
“Black Stone can’t be shifted into an
ything else, nor can anything be shifted into it. Not even an Alchemist can do it, as Black Stone is not an element of this world.”
“What about melting it?” Jordan asked.
“A powerful FireTwirler could possibly produce enough heat to melt it, but it would take some time.” Tobias’s voice lowered and his gaze seemed to become distant. “I know of someone who could help us. Omniya. I believe she still lives in Egypt.”
“Great,” Alyx said as she leaned forward. “Or we could just get Omniya to melt the silver frame. That would allow us to get the stone out faster, wouldn’t it?”
Tobias nodded. “And with less fuss.”
“We need to replace this stone,” said Israel. Everyone around the table stared at him. “You don’t understand. I was raised in a Muslim country. This is such an important piece to them. We can’t just take it.”
Alyx nodded. “Israel’s right.”
“But how do we refit a replica stone?” Marin said. “It would take forever to get the right sizing and to fit it properly.”
“Well,” Alyx started, “I have part of an Alchemist mark. What if I pour, I don’t know, something like sand into the hole that is left? I could Alchemist the sand into a type of black stone so that no one would know the difference.”
“It’s a great idea.” Tobias was nodding his head. “But you’ll need more than just an Alchemist mark to replace that stone.”
He was right. More magic would be better. “Do you know an Alchemist who can help?”
Tobias nodded. “Me.”
This caused a barrage of loud protests from around the room.
“...can’t go out onto the field.”
“...too dangerous.”
“What if something happens? Who will manage Aradale?”
Tobias held his hand up to stop their talking all at once. “This is not up for discussion. I am not going to just sit here behind my desk if there is something I can do to help.” The room was silent but the unease remained. Tobias said, “Let’s move on to the Black Stone in Lima.”
Dianne changed the image on the MemoryViewer so that it now showed Marin’s memory of the Basilica Cathedral in Lima. Like Jordan and Alyx, Marin had pretended to be a tourist, strolling through the Plaza Mayor of downtown Lima as he approached the cathedral. From the front, the pale stone cathedral had three entrances with two towers on either side of the outer entrances. Around the sides were fourteen side chapels. The grand main entrance was set in with holy statues and ornate stonework. Alyx felt her jaw drop as Marin walked inside.
The nave of the cathedral stretched so far that Alyx could barely see the altar. Marin walked down the aisle, passing large white pillars that held up the tall ceiling decorated with golden arcs. The painstaking and exquisite detailing of the carvings, the stonework and the brightly-colored stained glass windows brought tears to her eyes. Finally, at the front altar stood the large Black Stone crucifix.
Marin explained that the cathedral wasn’t alarmed, but there were priests and nuns who lived onsite that they would have to avoid. The doors remained open for midnight mass every night, then closed to the public at about 2 a.m., reopening again at dawn. This was a very limited window of opportunity. And the only way to get that crucifix out was through the large front entrance.
“Any ideas?” Tobias asked. After a few moments of mumbling and concentrated faces, Tobias said, “Okay, we’ll come back to this.”
Alyx stiffened when Dianne showed Vix’s memory of Israel and her soaring over the monastery. The monastery was walled off from the forest surrounding it, set above a large lake and perched upon the steep slopes. Within the complex stood various buildings separated by gardens, each building becoming more sacred as they moved towards the center. The monks were mostly silent, walking around the temples, meditating among the various gardens set within the monastery walls. But it appeared that these monks were up at all hours, the surveillance memory showing a constant vigil of mortals entering and remaining within the temple even during the depths of the night.
Vix explained that the Black Stone in the monastery in China had been carved into a great door which stood in the innermost temple of the monastery.
Marin grumbled, “We may have to take this one by force. It doesn’t seem like we can get to that door without one of the monks being there.”
“Wait,” said Vix. “There’s more.”
The image went black for a few seconds while Dianne changed memories. An image came on that brought a weight of apprehension to Alyx’s stomach. The image looked down over a roof into one of the large courtyards of the monastery. In the courtyards, rows and rows of monks, dressed in dusty orange pants and matching short robes tied off with red rope, were performing a series of katas with long thin swords, crying out in unison at the end of certain movements. They moved like a single entity, as if controlled by a single mind. Their swords glinted as they moved, scattering the air with splinters of light.
“What the hell are we looking at?” came from Jordan.
“These are the monks who live onsite,” said Vix. “They train three times a day. All of them are skilled in Kung Fu and all Eighteen Arms of Wushu, the eighteen main weapons of Chinese martial arts. Here you can see them training with the jian, a double-edged straight sword.”
Alyx watched the army of mortals in silence. After Vix’s memory was finished, the room was silent.
“We can’t take them on,” said Vix quietly. “They’re not our enemy. And they’re so skilled that if we were caught stealing their Black Stone door we would not come away without casualties. But this is good for us. It means that the Darkened will be hesitant to attack them. The monastery is extremely remote and very hard to find. I lived in this province for several decades and even I had trouble finding it. The safest place for this Black Stone is exactly where it is.”
Alyx slowly processed what Vix was saying. She could almost hear everyone else doing the same thing.
“It does sound logical,” Tobias ventured. “You are sure we are best to leave this location alone?”
“Wouldn’t it be best to alert these monks to the potential danger though?” said Alyx.
“And say what?” scoffed Marin. “Excuse me. Yeah, hi. So there are a bunch of demon guys who want to steal your door because the material can bypass our healing powers thereby giving them an advantage in the war to take over Earth.”
Alyx bristled as she heard Dianne snort in an attempt to hide her laughter. Alyx was about to retort when Vix interrupted her. “Israel and I thought about this. While we were there we made a few weak attempts to breech their gates. The monks didn’t catch us, of course, but now they are alerted to the fact that someone is trying to get in. They increased their watch while we were there.”
Tobias nodded. “Good thinking. I do think it is safest that we leave this Black Stone alone. Unless anyone disagrees, we shall move on with the last memory.”
No one disagreed.
As Jordan’s memory of Florence played, Alyx glared at Vix instead of watching the screen. “Israel and I thought about this.” How presumptuous of her to say “Israel and I”. There wasn’t an “Israel and I” when it came to Vix. Was there? And how dare she take Israel with her without consulting Alyx. Alyx was his Guardian. She was responsible for him.
Alyx glanced over at Israel and realized she had been caught glaring at Vix. Israel looked back at her with a frown on his face. Alyx dropped her eyes into her lap.
Deciding that her best course of action was to pretend like everything was fine, she looked back up to the screen and thrust her chin in the air, instructing herself not to look over to Vix or Israel for the rest of the meeting.
On the screen, Alyx and Jordan were walking from painting to painting. But something didn’t look right.
She leaned over to Jordan. “I recognize that painting. But the image...it’s…backwards.”
Jordan nodded. “Well spotted.”
“But why is it the other way ’round?”
Alyx frowned and watched as the screen showed the two of them weaving through the Galleria. Finally the statue of the Three Archangels filled the screen.
“It’s huge,” Vix gasped.
The image on screen circled around the statue.
“That is a large piece,” agreed Tobias. “They must have a large entrance, perhaps for staff only, to get their collection in and out.”
Jordan nodded. “We found a large door further back in the Galleria. The differences in the external dimension and internal dimension of the building suggest that there is a large space between it and the large external door leading to the small lane. We think that there is an unloading dock back there. Both doors are watched with security cameras and most are probably alarmed.”
“So how do we get the statue out?” asked Vix.
“Get it out?” Marin said. “How the hell do we get in without setting off enough alarms to alert half the city?”
Israel spoke up, “We need to disable their alarms.”
“Thank you, Mr. Obvious,” Marin muttered.
Alyx watched Israel. She recognized that look on his face. He had an idea. For a moment she forgot that she wasn’t supposed to be paying him any attention. “What are you thinking?”
“It’ll be even faster if we get someone to help us hack into the security mainframe,” said Israel. He seemed to be choosing his words very carefully. “We need to disarm the security system for a few minutes so that we can get in and get the sculpture out.”
“Hack a security system? Where the hell are we going to find someone who can do that?” asked Marin.
Israel paused. “I may know someone.”
Most of the stares directed at Israel were of disbelief.
Vix’s eyes widened in obvious respect. “Not just a pretty face, huh, mortal?”
Alyx forgot her promise not to glare at Vix. Pretty face. Vix had some nerve flirting with Israel in front of everyone like that.
“I’ll need your help in getting to him, Alyx,” Israel said. “We should leave tonight.”
