Metanoia (21 page)

Indeed, this seemed to be the truth. The
gateway had let them out at Gina’s old school, but continuous
exploration proved no sign of the Dark Lady or her minions. It was
not until they were almost out of town that they began to hear the
quiet notes.

As the music picked up tempo, the first few
saw the Dark Lady standing on top of one of the buildings, an arrow
strung in her bow. She stood over the warehouse buildings, staring
with delight. Holding the bow and arrow as if ready to attack, she
chanted.

“
Take these arrows that I
hold in my hand,

Make it be a tool to destroy this land.

Let all of them below burn with my hate,

And for the Nythagiéns serve as bait!”

On cue, the arrow in her hand lit on fire,
and the rest began to spark, waiting to erupt into full flames when
placed in the bow. Now Gina aimed at the nearest building and
fired. Flames engulfed the building. Another shot was fired and
another. Soon flames could be seen and screams heard.

The Nythagiéns could see the fires erupting
and quickened their pace. They soon arrived and immediately jumped
into the flaming buildings to save those still inside. Leyance
saved many as well but now ran through the halls looking for Gina.
As much as he feared to see her, he could not help but search. Yet,
his search was in vain. She was already gone. He knew it in his
heart, and this feeling brought him both relief and fear. Leyance
was not left to ponder on it long. Fheyrhil came in search of him.
There was work to be done.

The Dark Lady had moved on from the offices
and now walked through a busy street with one of her Übel minions
by her side.

“
Now to spread a little
more chaos,” she said, turning to the creature. “What do you think
the biggest incentive for such a horrendous riot would be? Ah, yes,
that would be power, revenge, and above all money.” She clapped her
hands and held them towards the sky, whispering seemingly nonsense
words. Soon, money started falling from the sky, bills floating
down to earth. All hell broke loose. Some of the money disappeared
when people grabbed for it and the remaining money caused people to
break out in violent fights to claim the money for
themselves.

“
That was easy. I told you
they destroy themselves, so I need do nothing. Except, I still want
to have a little fun…” She walked down the street and past the
riots, her arms extended. Her minion was close on her heels. As she
passed each building it burst into flames. Many people were too
preoccupied with the falling money to notice the immediate danger,
and only began to move away from the flames as the heat nipped at
their heels.

Jacinda walked around the great halls of
Nythagié, saddened by all the trouble occurring. She felt helpless,
for she and her friends had not been able to go to help. She was
left here only to meander through the manor in a city that now
seemed dead. Suddenly, someone’s hand fell across her mouth while
another held her so she could not struggle. Fear swept over
her.

“
No use in screaming,
Jessica. No one can stop me, and no one can save you. You’re time
has come to an end.” The Dark Lady threw her harshly at the Übels
who harshly tied a gag around Jacinda’s mouth and put sharp chains
on her wrists and ankles. She was dragged out into the city with
Gina leading the way. Jacinda was shocked by what she saw. Bodies
lay everywhere, and she recoiled away from them, shrieking despite
the gag. She was dragged up the hill onto a cliff overlooking part
of the city. The same cliff Leyance had gone to in order to say
good-bye to Gina. It was there that she was tied and abandoned,
forced to watch new fires beginning to engulf the city.

Alvina and Calypso ran through the
smoke-filled streets screaming for Jacinda.

“
We’re not going to find
her!” Calypso screamed.

“
We have to!” Alvina yelled
back. “Gina is here someplace, and we have to make sure she doesn’t
get to Jacinda.” Calypso had been looking around, and her eyes were
now drawn to the cliff.

“
Oh, God, we’re too late!
Look! There she is. Oh, please be alright!”

“
Jacinda!!” The two ran up
to the cliff as quickly as they could but this was no easy task.
Explosions arose throughout the city. At last, they reached their
friend.

“
These chains are too tight
on her! They’re cutting her!” Calypso screamed. “We have to get
them off!”

“
They’re tightening! We
have to hurry!” Alvina screamed. With much struggle, they finally
managed to get Jacinda out of her chains. Although very distraught
and in pain, she was able to stand and go with them. They ran
through the exploding streets and came across Elenzel who was
running towards them.

“
Girls! You have to get
out! Gina’s coming back! She…” But he could not finish. An
explosion erupted so close to them that all four were thrown in
opposite directions. The girls slowly and painfully rolled over and
helped each other up. They searched for Elenzel and found him
laying with his back to them.

“
Come on, Elenzel. We need
to go!” Jacinda called to him as they hurried over. He did not
stir.

“
Elenzel!” Alvina and
Calypso screamed in unison. They tried to wake him, but he did not
move.

“
No, please! Elenzel,
please, wake up!” Alvina screamed. Another explosion went off
nearby, and they dropped to the ground.

“
We have to go!” Calypso
screamed.

“
But Elenzel…” Alvina
began.

“
It’s too late,” Jacinda
interrupted. They all knew it. Silently, they got up and ran off
together.

When Leyance returned to Nythagié, he had
hoped to relax before planning their next move but this hope was
instantly shattered when he saw the turmoil his beloved city was
in. The whole team’s hearts sunk as they saw the fires completely
engulfing their home.

“
Gina…” Fheyrhil whispered
shakily. He glanced at Leyance. It was a simple, quick glance but
full of meaning. Leyance knew in his heart that Fheyrhil meant to
kill Gina if he found her and knew that he was meant to as well.
But he knew that Fheyrhil would never find her. In the end he could
sense in his heart that he, her husband, would be the one to find
her.

The team separated, running in all directions
to search the city for survivors. Leyance too separated but only in
search of one. His intuition drove him down a familiar path to a
familiar pond and sure enough there she stood. The water burned
behind her.

“
Leyance,” she said without
turning around to face him, “I told you that this time we met the
fun would really begin.” She slowly turned to face him. “Now it has
begun.”

“
You think I can’t hurt you
because I love you. I love you, and I don’t want to hurt you. But I
can.”

“
No you can’t. No one can.
I attacked her world – where were you then? I attacked this world,
her friends, Elenzel…”

“
What are you talking
about? Where are the girls, and where is Elenzel?”

“
Don’t worry, the girls
escaped, though Jacinda is pretty banged up. Elenzel, on the other
hand, wasn’t so lucky.”

“
You killed
him.”

“
Did I? Whoops!” A
remorseless smile escaped her lips. Leyance could not believe
anyone could be so cruel. “You didn’t stop me then and you can’t
stop me now,” Gina continued. With this she flew at Leyance, two
long swords now drawn from her side. Leyance was quick. He drew his
own sword and the fight between the two broke out. They fought so
hard and long that neither realized that they had fought their way
down the path and to the base of a grassy hill. They did not even
realize the thousands of Übels piling into the city and battling
with the citizens. Every hand in the city wielded a weapon against
another, but no fight was more intense then that between Leyance
and Gina.

“
Gina, we have to stop
this!” Leyance yelled. He stopped for a second, but Gina lunged at
him. Leyance jumped back, but lost his balance and tumbled
backwards. He held his sword out so he would not fall on it, but as
he fell, his foot caught the back of Gina’s, and she fell on top of
him.

“
Gina, are you alright?”
Leyance asked. “Gina!” He pulled his hand out to try to shake her
gently, but his hand was covered in blood. He pushed her off of him
and saw his sword had slid right through her stomach. She coughed
now and gasped for air. Her black choker had come undone and rested
beside her. “Gina, no, please…”

“
You killed me,” she said
breathlessly and lay limp in his arms. “I thought you’d protect
me…”

“
Gina, I’m so sorry, I’m so
sorry…” He just stared at Gina’s body still held close to him.
Suddenly, the body disintegrated into a pile of dust and blew away
in the wind. Slowly, an Übel climbed up the hill over Leyance.
Gina, the pure Gina, lay limp in his arms. She was not showing any
signs of life. Leyance looked up and gasped at this
sight.

“
We don’t want her
anymore,” the creature growled and tossed her down the hill. Gina
rolled down the hill and only stopped when she slammed into
Leyance’s arms. Still, she did not stir. Leyance lifted Gina and
held her close.

“
The potion worked…” he
whispered. Complete and utter sadness filled his heart. He had no
warmth left in his soul. He looked up at the creature to see him
string a bow and aim it at him. Leyance made no move to escape. He
saw the shot fired, the red sun setting, and then all went
black.

Chapter 13

“The Phoenix”

When the sun rose over the horizon the next
day, no one marveled at its beauty. The once stunning city was in
ruins, and many lay dead. The fires had burned all night, and the
battle against the Übels had raged on until finally they had
retreated. The loss of their leader caused too much chaos and
disorder for them to push on. Instead they fled back to the castle
where Noquef would soon learn of the news. Fheyrhil walked through
the halls of the manor heading towards the hospital wing. There
were so many needing treatment there that cots had been set up out
into the hallways. He inquired about a few and was directed to
another room. Slowly, Fheyrhil approached Gina and Leyance’s
bedroom. Sure enough, both of them were laid out on the bed while a
few nurses attended to them. Leyance was drifting in and out of
consciousness. Luckily, the arrow had not hit a fatal point, but it
was enough to hurt him severely.

“
How is he?” Fheyrhil asked
a nurse.

“
He’ll be fine. When he
awakes it is not for long. Yet, whenever he does, he screams out
for Gina,” she responded.

“
And she…?” he asked but
the nurse just shook her head. Fheyrhil’s heart sank. He reached
out and took her hand, cold compared to his own. For the first time
in his life, he began to cry. Slowly at first but soon the tears
started to stream down his face. He sobbed so hard that he had to
gasp for air. He just held onto Gina and cried. He looked at
Leyance through his tears. “It is going to take a long time for him
to recover. He had to watch the woman he loved die twice in a short
time, once by his own hand. I know he would have thought it easier
if he had passed too.”

That afternoon, Fheyrhil accompanied a
procession that carried Gina to a sacred spot in a nearby wood.
Leyance was still not well enough to join them, but the girls,
Deseré, Kien, Gloria, and Kaleb all accompanied the group. Finally,
the procession reached the spot and laid Gina down on the ground.
They covered her with flowers and said a few short words. Silent
tears flowed down many a cheek as they stared at their queen. Even
a phoenix, a bird of which was rarely seen in the city, flew down
to watch the queen, still beautiful in death. Yet, finally, it was
time to go back. Everyone silently processed out. Only the stunning
bird flew down to stay by Gina’s side.

Weeks passed and slowly the city showed signs
of becoming like new again. Many had been released from the
hospital wing, but many more had also been beyond help. Leyance
could now maintain consciousness but spoke to no one. He only
stared out the window. Fheyrhil, too, spoke to no one. He wandered
the corridors like a man of the undead weighed down by the events
that had occurred in his life. The girls had been sent back to the
other world. They felt the only cure for their grief was burying it
beneath work. Yet, sooner than any of them hoped for, their work
was done, and they were forced to return to the city. Deseré and
Kien had been chosen to lead a team to make sure the Übels were far
enough away and truly scattered and leaderless. Their task was also
to recapture Noquef and make sure he could do no more harm. He had
given himself up easily. He claimed that the Vice had started the
fire and had kidnapped and brainwashed him to do his evil bidding
even in his death. He thanked and thanked Deseré and Kien for
finding and rescuing him. He assured them that he was a changed
man, but they knew better. Meanwhile, Gloria and Kaleb had put
aside their training to help rebuild the city with others, though
often came to visit Leyance and help him rebuild strength. Many had
lost their hope of happiness in the battle, and this was proving to
be much harder to rebuild then the city. It would truly take a
miracle.

One evening, the city was quiet. All who had
been gone were back at home. The candles were being lit in
preparation for nightfall when a scream was heard. Fheyrhil
immediately ran out of the manor, hurrying to the cottage from
where he had heard the scream. His sword was held steadily in his
hand. Many others had rushed to the house as well.