Ascension (12 page)

“Gabrielle said that one of these allows you greater control over the dream,” Logan said.  “All three, and there will be nothing that can touch you.  We spoke—” he motioned around himself to Madison and Alexander, “—and want you to have them.”

“All three?” Laura asked.  “What about you?”

“You are the least experienced of us,” Alexander explained.  Then he added quickly, “No disrespect.  You may be the strongest, due to the circumstances of your feeding, but we know the dream realm far better than you.”

“Not only that, but you are important to us,” Madison added.  “Without you, the prophecy fails.”

“And I need you to be safe,” Logan said earnestly.  “These won’t guarantee it, but they can help.”

“No,” Laura said calmly.  “The three of you should take them.  One for each.  Like Alexander said, I am the strongest.  You need them more than I.”

“It’s already been decided,” Logan said strongly.  “You will take all three.”

“Well
un
-decide it.  None of us will succeed if another fails.  If I take all of them, it’ll be like—”

Laura cut off as Logan rose to loom over her.  His dark eyes shone with a fervent intensity.  For the first time in a long time, Laura actually felt small.  “You
will
take them, Laura.  You promised me that you would let me guard your wellbeing.  If we’re going to be separated out of necessity, this is the best I can do!”

Laura had not seen such intensity from Logan in a long time.  She was about to open her mouth to refuse, when she found a hand placed gently on her shoulder.  It was Madison’s.

“We all agreed it’s for the best,” Madison said soothingly.  “Logan means no harm.  He cares for you – we all do.”

Laura looked at Madison, and then back to Logan.  With a sigh, she nodded.  “If that’s what you’ve decided,” she relented.

Logan smiled, and picked up the other two
torrial
to hand to her.  “Trust me, this is for the best.”

“Thank you,” Laura said, managing a weak smile.  Alexander nodded with approval. 

“Anyway,” Madison added once Laura held the three
torrial
, “there are other
torrial
Gabrielle put aside.”  She motioned to the gold bracelet, the ivory sword handle, and the dark glass bottle. 

“Do you know what they do?” Laura asked.

“The bracelet is supposed to be a way of linking two people together,” Alexander said.  “One person puts it on, and his mind is linked to the person who was closest to him when the bracelet settled onto his wrist.  Gabrielle says it will be a way for us to stay in touch with him.  The sword hilt can make you move faster.  But only for a few moments.  And it takes a lot out of you.  The wine bottle?  There’s supposedly something inside that is very precious, but Gabrielle is unsure of what it is.  And the glass itself is not glass but
Allurvai
, so it is impossible to break open. ”

“So who gets what, then?” Laura asked.

“Gabrielle will wear the bracelet himself,” Alexander answered.  “The sword hilt, we had thought to give to you, but I doubt you will want it after the way you reacted.”  He chuckled.  “Which is to say, I don’t know.”

“You should take it,” Laura said without hesitation.  “Your shoulder still bares traces of the wound.”

“She’s right,” Madison said earnestly.  “The angels healed it, but you never know if the elders will find some way to exploit it nonetheless.”

“That’s fine by me,” Logan added.

Alexander looked uneasily from Laura to Logan to Madison. 
Now he knows how I felt
, Laura thought sarcastically.  Finally, he nodded, and picked up the ivory handle.

Laura.  It is time
.

Gabrielle’s voice rang in her head like a hammer striking an anvil.  She spun around on the spot.  She noticed, in her peripherals, the others doing the same.

Gabrielle had stood up from where he was standing.  The dark glass of the spherical
torrial
before him was no longer opaque.  It was transparent as the clearest glass, and inside Laura could see a dizzying array of thousands upon thousands of tiny white dots, bathed in a pale blue light.  The light was characteristic of
torrial
.  In between each of the dots was a darkness that even Laura’s
Vassiz
eyes could not see through.  The darkness did not just swallow the light from the dots.  It simply rejected it.  There was nothing that existed in between the dots; nothing that could penetrate the dark or be within it.

The female angel who had worked with Gabrielle was still sitting on the floor, concentrating on the
torrial
before her.  The other angels had all moved closer, and none looked uneasy anymore.  They were prepared.

Laura wished she could say the same about herself.  While she thought she gave out the appearance of being ready, her insides were bubbling with uncertainty and emotion.  What if she would never see any of the others again?  Was this the final goodbye?  Would stepping through the
torrial
and into the elders’ dreams be the first step to her death?  To all their deaths?

Logan stepped beside her, gave her a quick smile, and took her hand.  She locked her fingers between his and held on tight. 

This
torrial
represents rebirth for us
, Gabrielle began
.  With it, we will be able to usher in a new age writ forth by prophecy.  We have come full circle, from being trapped by the elders in their mad use of this device to using it against them.  It is a poetic type of justice when the device used to imprison us will turn out to be the same one leading to their downfall.  The origins of this new age began when we were freed from our eternal prison by the one destined to do so.  Laura Cubus.  It is thanks to her that we have gotten this far, and to her we owe our freedom.  For that, we are forever in her debt.

Laura knew Gabrielle was not just speaking to her, but to all of them.  He was a natural leader, and Laura stood in awe of what he was doing.  Of how he was doing it.

Let the activation of the
torrial
represent our first foray into the quittance of our debt.  Nothing we may do shall ever match our gratitude, but it will not be so for a lack of effort.  And so, Laura Cubus, we offer to you first use of the device, so you may begin what you were prophesied to do.

Gabrielle inclined his head toward Laura.  All the other angels did the same.  She felt oddly uncomfortable with the gesture – she hadn’t even accomplished anything yet!  All the same, she acknowledged it with a tight smile.

“Thank you, Gabrielle,” she said.  “Thank you, to everyone for coming this far with me.  None of you had any obligation to do so—” she looked back at Madison and Alexander to let them know she especially meant them, “—but yet you did.  It is not something I will ever forget.”

“I would not leave you for the world,” Logan whispered beside her.  Laura started to blush, but forced it down.

Good
.  Gabrielle rose his head. 
Laura, who should be the first to enter the
torrial?

“I will,” Laura answered.  She was their leader, and she had to lead.  No leader would ever gain the confidence of her followers by shying away at the most important time.  “I will be the first to go.”

“Laura, no,” she heard Logan say beside her, but she had already made up her mind.  Unlinking her fingers from his – which, she had to admit, was one of the most difficult things she’d ever done – she stepped forward. 

“What do I need to do, Gabrielle?”

Gabrielle smiled and drifted over to her.  He placed his hands on her shoulders, and gently led her forward.  Positioning her in front of the
torrial
, he stepped back.

Laura
, he said,
you are the only one who can hear me now.  I will tell you how to use the
torrial
to achieve what you want.  Listen well, for it is imperative that nothing go wrong
.

Laura gave a curt nod to acknowledge him.

Look into the sphere, Laura.  Do you see the lights?  Each of those lights is a representation of every living body in existence.  Everyone is there; there are none omitted
.

Laura came closer, and could see deeper into the
torrial
.  Whereas before she thought all the lights were contained within the sphere, now she knew different.  The lights appeared to extend out forever.  There was no other side to the globe when she looked in.  It just extended indefinitely.  It made her dizzy just thinking about it.

Every star is the representation of a single person.  The light you see given off is their life energy.  It is what makes them who they are, what allows them to feel pain and happiness, sadness and pleasure.  It is what gives them life.  The
torrial
allows us to see all the people of the world represented at once.  And it allows us to enter their minds – their dreams – or bring them into our own.  It is what we will use to find the elders.

Do you see the black surrounding the stars?  That is the sub-ethereal matrix, the nothingness that exists to give structure to our world and to all of life.  Without it, nothing could exist.  But at the same time, there is nothing that exists within it.  It is bleak and barren and devoid of life, and yet gives rise to the physical dimensions of our worlds.

That matrix is where the
torrial
will take you, Laura.  When you’re inside, you will see the billions of stars that represent every living body on the earth.  Time and space become meaningless there.  You will find the elders’ stars, and go into the first one.

“But how can I possibly pick out the right star?”

The
torrial
operates on
need
, Laura.  It will take you to where you need to be more than anything in the world.  Feel the need, and the
torrial
will respond in kind.  Do you understand?

“I… yes, I think so.”

You have to be sure, Laura.  Are you sure that your need to find the elders is stronger than anything else on your mind?  That your desire to see justice done, to ensure that you can live your life in peace, supersedes everything else?

“Yes,” Laura answered strongly.

That your anger for what the elders have put you through makes you want to seek revenge?  That your passion for seeing it done fuels the very fires of your heart?

“Yes!”

Then your need is the right one.  Close your eyes.

Laura did so.  She felt reality distort around her.  It was as if a cleave had been made right through the air, opening into nothingness.  She felt a pull from it, and was plunged inside.

Chapter Eleven

~A Reunion~

Laura was floating through the darkness.  She knew she was above ground, but could not feel her body.  In fact, she could not even tell which way was up, and which was down.  She floated, like a leaf travelling down a meandering creek.  She did not know where she was going, only that she was in motion. 

She opened her eyes.  Darkness filled them.  It was overpowering, fighting to swallow her up.  She was an intruder, and not welcome here.  But she
was
here.  How did she get here?  She fought to remember, but catching a memory was like grasping at water.  It was like trying to recall a dream of a dream. 

Slowly, ever so slowly, the darkness receded.  In its place Laura saw shapes forming.  Small shapes, and all far in the distance.  The darkness still existed in the interval, but where the shapes were, it did not.  A thousand years seemed to pass as the darkness continued to ebb away, revealing the intricate shapes that surrounded her.  They were everywhere, now.  Close and far, left and right, down and up.  Every one of the shapes was different, but every one was perfect in its own right.  Laura could see the lines that made up the shapes like bars of streaming light.  The shapes all called to her, all demanded her attention.  There were so many of them it would take a thousand lifetimes just to get started.  But Laura did not want to wait.

She reached out toward one, but it scampered away.  She tried again, extending herself toward another. It reacted the same way.  She was like a drop of oil floating in a pool of water.  Skimming at the top, but repelling everything around her.

Laura blinked, and the shapes changed.  What were previously angular figures became glowing balls of light.  And the darkness ebbed away.  Paradoxically, it threatened to swallow everything up.  The little spheres around her fought back, shining with increased fervor, and the darkness did not advance.  An equilibrium had been reached.