"Wait! We will all go in together!" Christopher yelled to his fellow guides as he and the others with him can careen in like missiles. Troy staggered away from the guides who hurried to join hands with the other three. They walked to the orb of light. Hovering above the space where the floor once was the guides each placed their hands on the orb, adding their supply of immortal energy to the flow. The light brightened, making it almost unbearable for even a spirit to view and too intense for mortal eyes to tolerate. Other guides from the legion arrived and join the group, immersing themselves in the light of the One and adding their immortal energy to the beacon.
Troy noticed Carol, slumped on the ground with her knees pulled to her chest. He put his hand on her shoulder.
Carol looked up at Troy, her grief etched on her face. "They are really gone. Terra told me long ago that he was meant to be a sacrifice. But I never really knew. A mother wants the best for her child."
Troy swallowed hard. "So Terra and Liam?"
"They were right there, battling with Orthos when something exploded. Then they were just gone."
"I should have stopped her. If she had just listened!"
Carol shook her head. "I think she did listen, just not to us."
As Troy and Carol watched, one by one the brigade of guides who had come with Weslyn arrived and joined the others. The last Earth-bound guide to join the group was the Chairwoman herself. As she placed her hands on the nuclei of blinding white light, the stream of light fully encompassed the vortex of bodiless souls, hiding the last of them from view.
"Do you feel that?" Carol stopped crying and looked at Troy.
"Yeah, I can't really explain it, but it is like a wave of peace."
"It is coming from the pillar of light," Carol stepped toward the guides- pointing skyward. " I think we are supposed to go to it."
"I...I think you're right." The two once mortals approached the guides. As the light touched them, they were pulled skyward. They disappeared into the glow. As the last two displaced spirits willingly entered the pillar of light, the stream of light suddenly narrowed, then retracted back into the orb of light. The orb spun slowly, as it rose into the sky, taking the guides with it.
~~~~~~~~
Terra coughed as she pushed the debris away from her face. At first her eyes, still dazed from the immortal light saw only darkness. "Liam? Liam? She could only manage a whisper as she tried to clear the dust and dirt from her mouth. As she worked her voice returned. "Liam?!" Panic filled her voice.
"I'm here." Terra felt him speak. She could not hear him aloud.
"Here? Where are you? She managed to drag herself, bloodied and covered with mud to the top of the debris.
"I never left you." Liam reached for Terra in the darkness, but his hands passed through hers.
"Oh no. I never wanted this for you. I only wanted to keep you safe!" Terra cried. "Where, where is your body? Maybe it's not too late. She dug through the rubble, trying to find the last remnant of Liam's mortality.
"It's alright, Terra. I think this is what was supposed to happen. I'm at peace with it."
"You might be, but not me. I have done everything I was asked. I never signed up for this. And I'll be darned if I will let you just give up on life now!" As she spoke, the rubble beneath her shifted and began to empty from the pit at an alarming rate. Within a few moments, Terra found herself sitting at the bottom of a dark hole, several stories beneath the Earth's surface looking at the dim outline of Liam's body as it lay on the opposite side of a rapidly closing fissure that separated her from him. On top of the fissure, Orthos, or what was left of him lay crumpled. He was all that held the fissure from closing. Terra crawled to him, pushing him into the crack with the last of her remaining strength. She felt the fissure accept him, the last offering it would receive as a blast of heat escaped, the fissure clapped closed behind the thing that had crawled through it into the mortal world. Terra did not waste any time mourning his loss. She continued to crawl toward Liam's body.
"Terra, you can't save the dead," Liam said.
"The dead return to the Tweens. Since you're standing here, there is still hope." Terra managed to drag her damaged body to what remained of Liam's human form.
"Alright, I did as you asked. He did what he was intended to do. Now it is your turn to do your part. Fix this. Make this right for us!" Terra shouted up past the mouth of the pit, her voice echoing off the sides of the crater. She laid her head on Liam's body and let her emotions take her where they would. As she lay, her tears mingled with the small remnants of her immortal energy, not seeing the soft glow that encompassed them as she buried her face in grief. "Liam, I never really got to tell you I love you, not in person... as a person. I do. I always have. I didn't understand what this kind of love was. For the longest time, I couldn't see past duty and understand humanity. But here I am. And now I know, because of you, I know."
"I love you too" Liam managed to whisper with his first new mortal breath.
"You're alive!" Terra sat up, looking at Liam as he blinked in the darkness meeting her gaze.
"Yeah, but geez, I'm going to be sore from this one!" he groaned, teasing her. He sat up, testing his body, but found himself restored aside from some bumps and bruises.
Terra pulled up Liam's shirt as he sat up, looking at the claw marks, now only red scars where Orthos has spilled his lifeblood. "Amazing, Thank you!" Terra called out.
"Well, it's nice to see you in person," Liam said, pulling her toward him for a kiss.
~~~~~~~~~
The climb to the top of the pit was long and difficult. Terra and Liam helped each other over the edge when they reached the top. Winded, injured and muddy, they lay in each other's arms, neither caring about anything but the pure joy of finally being able to hold one another without fear, or danger.
"What do you think happened to the others?" Terra asked.
"I don't know. I guess we need to rejoin the real world and find out. The pair stood, and hand in hand walked out of the ruined factory.
Chapter 52
"Where is the remote for this thing?" Liam asked. He lounged on the hand-me-down couch holding a framed mirror.
"Portals don't need remotes!" Terra laughed. She plopped down on the couch pushing Liam to one side as she touched the portal.
"Halle!" Terra cried as her oldest friend appeared in the reflection.
"Hello, Terra. Glad to see you looking so well and rested." Halle said with one raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, well, battling the scourge will really wear you down."
"Point taken," Halle laughed. "Besides, they are just entities now. You can't keep calling them scourge. You know they have been restored through the one and will be reborn."
"Sure, but you didn't live their little fall from grace. I'll feel a lot better when I see them growing up to be decent living people instead of broken distorted ones who no longer even look like people."
"How is it going with the restored ones on Earth?" Halle asked.
"The press couldn't make any sense of it, missing persons returning in droves, sudden changes in people who were infected. They keep blaming a nerve agent and mass hysteria. I'm sure glad everything was spontaneous. I'd hate to witness all of those long-dead people suddenly coming back to life like nothing ever happened."
"I think that would be beautiful," Halle sighed.
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," Terra said.
"I like to think I have a pretty good handle on that," Halle grinned with a flicker of mischief in her eye.
"Okay, you may have a point there." Terra conceded. "We wanted to know what the council decided about Azalea?"
"Well, they kept her in council for the longest time. But I think they decided to send her back to Earth. I think they will take some time with her first. She is very remorseful about the little incident with the stadium."
"I tried to warn her and Korin. I knew that formula was bad news. I really felt bad about her heart attack though. I guess the stress was just too
much."
"How is Korin holding up?" Halle asked.
"She is doing okay. She found a job working retail. They never traced the stadium incident to her. It was just blamed on mass hysteria, that was a lot easier to sell once all the people were safely back in their bodies."
"I'm glad she is okay," Halle said.
"How is Christopher?" asked Terra.
"He's glad to be home. And I have to say I'm, glad to have him back." Halle turned her homemade portal, allowing Terra a glimpse of Christopher busily painting at Halle's easel.
"Painting? I didn't know Christopher was an artist?"
"He wasn't, but he said visiting Earth inspired him. I think it's therapeutic. Besides, he says that if I can moonlight as your guide, he can dabble in art."
“Sounds fair to me,” Liam interrupted.
"When are you going to get back to studying for your exam?" Terra asked, redirecting Liam.
"I have a whole week. Besides, you have classes as well."
"But I've had a thousand plus years to get ahead," Terra laughed.
"That hardly seems fair," Liam pouted.
"I'm more than willing to tutor you," said Terra.
"College life suits you two," said Halle.
"I think life in general suits us," said Terra. "I had better go to help Liam study. He looks a little worried now. Tell Elise and Brendan I said hello and thank them again!"
"I will! Have a good... study session." Halle laughed as the portal faded back to a mirror surface.
Terra turned to Liam, "Where were we, Oh yeah, world history. She leaned in for a deep kiss. Before the two could lose themselves completely, the doorbell rang.
"Who in the world?" Liam asked. He stood and went to answer the door.
"Package delivery," Troy's voice boomed through the tiny apartment living room.
"Troy! Back in uniform already, I see." Terra rushed to give the middle-aged police officer a quick hug.
"Yeah, some things never change."
"What is this package you are talking about? Did you bring us a gift?"
"In a matter of speaking. Xavier called. He was worried about leaving this leftover formula in the house with his little sister, and his mom.
Terra shivered. "Azalea's formula, that is some nasty stuff. Are you sure we can't just flush it or something?"
"No, a little goes way too far. It needs to be kept safe," Troy said.
Terra pulled the box open, "Hmm. I thought Korin said there were ten jars left. There are only six here."
"That is all Xavier said were left," said Troy. "Besides, who would have taken them?"
~~~~~~~~
"That fool Orthos couldn't hold on to a good thing," Bartus grumbled to himself. " All that show, and for what, the guides to show up and shut him down. Not me, not this time." Bartus wheezed a wicked laugh as he disappeared from view on the crystal pathway.
Thank you for reading Anointed! If you enjoyed this book, please take a moment to write a short review and post it on Amazon. It helps other readers find books they enjoy, and it helps authors like me!
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Sincerely,
Sara B. Gauldin
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The Corporeal Pull Trilogy
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