Chapter 14 - Vipers
June, 1981 - Toronto, Canada
The assurance of heaven is not a palace in the sky, but a peace within.
Elisa knew the day would come when they would betray her. Just as she had known the Circle Knight Elders would confront her after she tossed her daughter’s abuser into The Pit, she knew that Council of Nob would turn on her one day. Matasis had spent nearly twenty years telling her that she would share in the spoils once the Omni Portal was fully functional. She’d never believed a word of it. Nonetheless, she played along. Elisa knew full well that once they had no further use for her, she was expendable. The only question in her mind was when they would do it?
Elisa knew that history would not be kind to her. Aiding in the construction of the Omni Portal, which could very well mean the end of all creation, even in exchange for the lives of her grandchildren, would be a very hard to justify. That wasn’t the whole story, but history only notes the highlights. In this game of shadows, there were deceptions within deceptions many of which would never be known. Elisa was fine with that. The problem with this game was that Elisa was the bait.
Everything has a price. The evil are always hungry for blood and Elisa, knowing this, was amazed that she’d survived this long in a pit full of vipers. She liked to think that Chase had spoken on her behalf. His words would not have swayed the council one bit, but something within her hoped that, in honor of old kindnesses, he had at least spoken a word in her defense.
It had started simply. The worst days of our lives often do. Matasis called the group to convene at a cottage just outside of Toronto. It was June but the daybreak air was cool and calm. Elisa pulled into the gravel turnaround in front of the cottage and exited her rental car. A flock of geese graced the sky above her as they passed by on their journey north. Elisa smiled.
The cabin appeared to be empty. Elisa walked around to the back towards the lake bordering the property to see if the sea plane was in dock. Several of the Council members could not or would not fly commercial. As Elisa entered the back yard, she caught sight of the plane. A question began to form in her mind. Even as it did, a sharp pain erupted in her right shoulder. She fell back as her left hand rose to cover the bleeding wound. Elisa immediately created a telekinetic shield which protected her from the second burst of energy fired from the far side of the lake. In an instant, Poseidon appeared behind Elisa swinging down upon her. She’d caught a mental image of his intention as he was materializing, so she was able to partially protect herself. She quickly realized that Zi must have teleported him behind her since he did not have that ability on his own. Her telekinetic shield prevented him from making contact, but the force of the blow had produced a migraine.
The space god laughed with distain, “One blow and you wilt? As with all mortals who rise up against the gods, your desire exceeds your ability.”
Poseidon reeled back and swung his oversized fist into Elisa’s torso. Though her shield took on most of the force, his knuckles made enough of an impact to send Elisa flying, cracking two of her ribs. Poseidon removed one of the crystal prisms from his neck. He held it out in his hand before him towards Elisa, who was now on the ground and struggling to breathe. The jewel glowed bright blue and red in his hand and released the spirit in the form of a dark mist. The spirit being slinked across the ground as it took form. Its form was that of a black snake with shifting heads, each one reflecting a different monstrosity.
Elisa fought through her pain to take to the sky. She knew that Zi was nearby. Elisa was barely twenty feet off the ground when lightning from the clear blue sky sent her tumbling to the ground. Elisa staggered to her feet and managed to cross the tree line. The bloodied Elisa ran through the woods. Zi stepped out of the wind several feet behind her and unleashed lightning from her fingers into Elisa’s back. Elisa’s arms flew up before she fell to the ground again. Zi marched over and stood above Elisa daring her to rise again, but Elisa didn’t move. She remained curled in a nearly fetal position atop the moist grass.
Isadora stepped past Zi, smiling, “See, Zi, you were wrong. I know her reputation too, but Elisa is not half the woman she once was. It’s a shame that Poseidon didn’t get a chance to experience her in her fullness.”
Isadora glanced in the direction of Matasis as he and Destry emerged from the darkness of the woods.
Matasis called out, “I’m sorry, Elisa, our big day is this week and you were just a loose end that we needed to clean up beforehand. Your services were most helpful to our dark cause. Oh, and, in case you’re wondering, we sent Chase on a little mission down in Atlanta. But not to worry, Isadora has a place for you in Oblivion. You’ll make plenty of new friends there.”
Matasis nodded for Isadora to proceed. As Queen of the Dead, Isadora was always looking to expand her collection. Her eyes went completely black as vapors from the underworld seeped up through the ground and grabbed Elisa. They pulled her down as she struggled in vain against darkness.
THE BOOK OF
ELIZABETH