The Whispers of the Fallen (34 page)

“Nephele, maybe what you are asking of him is not an easy feat to achieve,” Erebos added.

“But…” His voice deepened. “There is a path that immortals may be able to enter through.”

“Where are the Lessers located?” I asked him. “Tell me where they sleep.”

“They sleep under the Ruins of Madbouseux, in a place called The Heart of Elysium. The mystery of the disappearance of Madbouseux’s people is hidden in this remote place.”

Very few dared to go to Madbouseux. Even immortals feared the Ruins, for none knew what evil lingered in such place. Some feared that the power that dwelled there was even greater than Lucifer’s.

“Are you willing to take us there?” Erebos bade him. “We will be sure to reward all of the Lessers if you show us the way. We will give them abilities of their own.”

His eyes widened and moistened with tears. “You would reward me?” Cahir asked with simple amazement.

Erebos nodded.

“Do you know where the Ruins are located?” Cahir asked with a hopeful stare.

“Yes, we know where they are,” I replied.

“Meet me at the entrance of the Ruins.”

To my surprise, the moment the words escaped Cahir’s mouth, his limbs disappeared; his facial features diminished back into his body as he transformed himself into a snake. His size was massive; his back expanded to a length that was long and thin. He slithered on the ground, creating a crater with his body. In a matter of seconds, he slid under the forest floor.

“Are you sure you want to go to the Ruins, Nephele?” Erebos asked. “We don’t know what we will find there. There must be a reason why not even immortals tread upon those grounds.”

“If we are to bring the Dark One back, we can no longer avoid taking risks. I do not fear death or pain. If our armies are failing in the capture of the book-bearers, we must look for alternatives,” I conjectured.

Erebos gave me a reassuring smile. “Let it be as you wish.”

Erebos and I rushed to the sky. An avalanche of emotions stirred inside of me. Even to my kind, knowing that an entire group of people disappeared from Madbouseux without any trace of war or struggle was bizarre and thought-provoking.

Erebos and I remained quiet throughout the journey. The landscape changed dramatically as we approached the borders of the Ruins. Mountaintops reached the sky, disappearing into the cloudbank. Antique statues of kings and queens were broken, partially mounted on the mountain ledges.

Erebos and I headed toward the ground. We landed in a nearby valley. Ruins of monuments were scattered around the place.

“Let us continue on foot,” I said, quickly surveying the surrounding landscape. “The cloudbanks are making it difficult to fly.”

Erebos nodded in silence.

A thick mist covered the trees that towered from above the dark, ashy ground.

Silently, we followed the trail up the mountain. The whispers of a soft breeze scattered the ashes that rested on the tree branches, creating a curtain of gray.

Ahead, beyond the gray dust that hovered, I spotted the entrance to the Ruins. Remains of a fortified wall were broken and scattered over the ground. An archway jutted up in the center of the wall. Carvings of men in battle, men seated upon thrones and warriors fully armored were etched throughout the monument.

“Awkward to see something so magnificent sitting here abandoned,” Erebos exclaimed as he cautiously walked around, analyzing the surroundings.

“All the more reason for us to be on high alert, we do not know what lies throughout these lands. Very few, if any, have dared to venture here.”

Whispering voices echoed in the air. The voices were reminiscent of women and children speaking all at once. “Do you hear the voices?” I asked Erebos.

“How could I not?” he responded in a somber voice. “The voices you hear are of those that lived here on the day of desolation.”

I was startled when I saw Cahir walking toward us out of the mist.

“Day of desolation?” I burned with curiosity.

“The day all had vanished to the unknown darkness…the day the Book of Letters arrived,” he whispered as he rambled about.

“Were you here when all of this happened?” Erebos inquired.

“I remember now. The day we all disappeared was a result of our king’s decision,” he whispered.

The whispers stopped; an uncomfortable stillness began to settle in.

“What decision brought about this destruction, Cahir?” I asked.

“The Book of Letters mysteriously appeared in the Kingdom of Madbouseux. A peculiar book it was for it held the power to raise an army that would obey whosoever possessed it.” Cahir meandered in the direction of the archway of the Ruins.

Cahir had my full attention. “What is the current location of the book?” I inquired.

“The Stars snatched the book away, for the king of Men that ruled Madbouseux had his heart corrupted, giving in to the dark power of the book. It sought to raise an army to destroy the world. He was consumed by the book’s power.”

“So the Stars have the book?” Erebos queried.

“I know not if the Stars have the book. I do know that the book lies in Tristar.”

Astonished, I looked at Erebos. We had never heard of the Book of Letters or of the power it possessed.

“But we are here for the other Lessers, correct?” Cahir asked, standing beneath the archway. “Shall we go?”

Erebos silently looked at me as we marched in the direction of the archway. I felt a chill run down my spine as I walked under the monument.

We ventured into the ruins. Ancient marble stones sat at the foot of the magnificent temples and houses.

The majority of the remaining houses were without a roof, with only their foundations standing. With every step, my feet crushed the shards of glass that littered the ground.

Cahir approached one of the temples that remained standing.

“In here,” he said, walking up a set of stairs. Five statues circled the entrance of the temple. They were statues of women holding the head of an ox. The garments of the statues draped all the way to the ground, covering their feet. Small crowns with a ruby embedded in the center sat on the heads of each statue. The perfection of the oxen’s faces left me speechless.
Amidst so much destruction, how could these statues be in near perfect condition?
I wondered.

Upon entering the temple, I was immediately aware that it was empty. There was nothing beside the vast empty space that was built with the purest marble.

“Why are we here?” I asked Cahir, somewhat confused.

“This is the entrance to the Heart of Elysium.” His voice was low. Once again, we heard the voices of many children and women echoing inside.

“What are they saying?” Erebos asked.

“The events that happened here were too burdensome to be forgotten. Since none of them abandoned this place by choice, it is as if their souls whisper their desires,” Cahir replied, his voice gentle and mellow.

“Will we find those that used to dwell in Madbouseux in the place you are taking us to?” I was anxious to know.

An empty stare was expressed on his face. “Yes. We were all sent to the Heart of Elysium.”

Cahir moved to the middle of the temple. He got on his knees, his hands trailing across the cold marble floor. A flash of light illuminated one of the marble tiles, revealing a stairway that led underground.

“We must go down,” Cahir affirmed with an assertive tone.

I cautiously approached the stairway.

“Are you sure we want to do this?” Erebos asked me once again.

“The Dark One
needs
a body of his own. Imagine how pleased he will be once he realizes we worked tirelessly, searching every avenue to bring him back,” I answered.

“Watch your heads,” Cahir warned us as he descended the dimly lit stairway.

The smell of burning sulfur overpowered us, becoming more pungent with every step. At the bottom, a dim red light was shining.

“What is this place?” Erebos inquired, his eyes soaking in every detail of our surroundings

“This tunnel was built in secret as the passageway to the Heart. The people of Madbouseux were ordered by their king to dig until they reached the heart of the world. The king claimed that the Book of Letters revealed to him the location of the Heart,” Cahir stipulated as we approached the light that was coming from a doorway located on our left.

“Now we cross the darkness before we reach the Heart,” Cahir avowed as he approached the last step, and led our footsteps along the lit pathway

We followed Cahir, trusting his direction. We entered a gigantic grotto; stalactites hung majestically from the ceiling, dripping with water. Every drop echoed loudly. Puddles of burning sulfur were scattered across the ground.

“Where do we go from here?” I asked Cahir. Even though I feared this place, I had to remain strong.

Cahir shot me a glance over his shoulder. “We must journey in the direction of the tunnel.” He pointed toward a small opening in the massive wall ahead.

We continued to journey down past the grotto, approaching the tunnel. The voices of the women and children faintly spoke in the air.

When we stood at the entrance to the tunnel, the voices ceased. Once inside, we discovered a small spring of water.

Cahir stepped inside the flowing waters that only touched up to his calves. “We are close, my lady,” he confessed, his eyes fixed inside the tunnel.

“I will go first,” Erebos stated, walking ahead of me.

A cold shiver shot up my body when my feet touched the water. It was bitter cold. The water level rose with every step, going all the way up to my waist. Visibility grew dim as we moved forward.

“It is a good thing you are immortals. Ordinary humans aren’t able to withstand the temperature inside the tunnel,” Cahir alleged.

A few moments later, I heard a loud splash coming from up ahead of us.

“I think Cahir disap…” Erebos’ voice trailed off as the sound of another loud splash followed.

Something grabbed ahold of my leg, pulling me toward the bottom. I tried to swim back to the surface but the suction was strong. I couldn’t see anything but the darkness. The water temperature kept on dropping as my body violently descended. I touched the ground beneath me. I tried to fight against the strength of the water, which kept me pinned down. In a feeble attempt, I tried to move my hands and feet but my body did not respond.

I kept my eyes open, trying to find a way to be free from the water’s powerful hold.

Surprisingly, a light began to shine from above the surface. I noticed the water level quickly dropping, reaching my nostrils. I took a deep breath and quickly got to my feet. My clothes were drenched.

I felt the heat of the light that shone above. When I peered up, I was bewildered at the sight. It was the sun, brightly shining in the blue sky.

A carpet of the greenest grass I had ever seen stretched across small hills. In the distance were mountains with altitudes that ascended to the clouds. The humming of birds and the sound of other critters melded together like a well-played melody.

“Do you see this, Nephele?” I heard excitement in Erebos’ voice from behind me. As I peeked over my shoulder, I could see him and Cahir standing beside a small hill.

“What happened, Cahir?” I asked furiously. “Is this some sort of trick? You could have warned us!”

“I had no memory of the waters being so violent, my lady. I am glad to say that we have arrived.”

“Is this the Fourth Dimension? Where are we exactly?” I demanded an answer from Cahir.

As a canvas burns when set on fire, my surroundings burned away. Ashes and smoke filled the air as all the beauty turned to ash.

Not long after, the smoke faded away, unveiling a shocking landscape. The trees were dead, the hills covered with thick ash. The sky was gray and a path of cobblestone sprung out of the gray ground.

“This is why many cannot return to Elysium. This place can read the strongest heart present and manifest its desires on its landscape. Part of your heart desires peace, but you know that inside of you, darkness lingers,” Cahir explained as he strolled down the cobblestone path.

“Where are we?” I demanded to know.

“The Heart of Elysium. This is where the inhabitants of Madbouseux were sent after the king surrendered to the power of the Book of Letters.” Cahir’s voice was somber. “Now we stand next to the grave where the other Lessers sleep,” Cahir informed us.

Silence, almost reverently, lingered about us.

“No other being has ever been here?” Erebos asked.

“The only ones I have seen venturing into this place are the Fallen Stars. They come to the Heart to perform and experiment with the Dark Exchange on the other Lessers,” Cahir replied.

I turned to Erebos. He was absolutely astonished. “I cannot help but wonder why I was never told about this place,” Erebos bellowed. “I knew of the Dark Exchange and of the Lessers, but I never knew my brothers held them here. They always told me they used the snakes from the Abyss to perfect the Dark Exchange.”

“There are secrets here that few are aware of, Erebos,” Cahir conceded.

“You mentioned that this place held the secrets to the disappearance of the people of Madbouseux. Where are the people?” I asked.

“You will see…” he whispered.