Chapter 35
“So that’s the Great Destination,” Ash marveled, facing the ultimate gateway, now calm and cleared of debris. “I can’t believe I had no idea it was here.”
“It’s so beautiful. Like somebody’s stirring an opal with their finger,” said Elanora.
“And no more beasts,” Will added.
Ash gazed at the ceiling. “You said something before about layers, Will. How many layers do you think there are in the Timefold?”
“Are you planning to stay and find out?”
Elanora caught Ashden staring at her left hand. Turning red, she passed it through her hair. While there was no ring on her finger she wanted to bury even the suggestion of it.
“I don’t know about that just yet,” he replied.
“So you’re staying, Elanora?” asked Will.
A vivid flash of his bloodstained hand assaulted her and she stepped back. She saw his face pale, inhaled and remembered the benefit of the doubt she had agreed to apply.
“This is my home, Will. Of course I’m staying.”
“Well I’ve got no reason to go back. No money, nowhere to stay. I certainly don’t want to go back and die of old age.”
“Of course,” she said.
Ash glanced at her but their eyes brushed apart.
There was silence.
“You’ll keep coming back won’t you Ashden? After you’ve helped your mother?” Elanora asked.
“Someone’s got to keep bringing the soulings, I suppose.”
Eskatoria scampered over and scaled her way onto Ashden’s shoulder, pointing urgently towards the cavern wall with both arms and a tail.
“Look at that!” Ash said, rushing over to where Edward Arthur sat clapping his paws in delight at his newfound mobility. Eski jumped up and down, humming.
“Elanora, isn’t there a way you could come back? To see your parents again?” Ashden asked quietly, picking up the bear.
“They don’t feel like my parents, Ash. If I went through that gateway I wouldn’t end up in the same time as you anyway. We lost that chance.”
“Because you went through another gateway?”
“No, because of the rule.”
“What rule?”
“About if you enter together you must leave together. Touching.”
“I didn’t know that either. Turns out there’s a lot of stuff I didn’t know,” he frowned, shooting hard eyes at Will. “So I couldn’t have saved you anyway?”
Elanora shook her head. “No, I don’t suppose you could have, and yet. You did,” she said softly. “You really should go back, Ashden. Not just for your mother. You’ve got your whole life to live.”
“I’m not a child,” he retorted.
No-one spoke.
“Yeah well, I’ve got to give Edward back to Nory. She’s still waiting,” he mumbled.
Happy for the change of subject Elanora swooped on Edward. “I’m so pleased we met up again Edward Arthur Jameson. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? You will give Nory a hug from me, won’t you, now that you can. And tell her I said hello. I loved her like my own daughter,” she added in a whisper.
Ashden looked away. The sudden image in his head of a wizened Elanora hugging old Nory was not welcome.
“Come on, no one has to go anywhere yet. We’ve got bagfuls of broken soulings back at our base to send through and then I think a celebration is in order,” Elanora said and turned to head back through the tunnels.
“Great idea,” said Will, pressing his hand against the wall and feeling it give under the pressure. He smiled.
After the first turn in the tunnel she stopped and handed Edward Arthur to Will. She bent down for a whispered word with Scrufkin while she fussed with her bootlace. “Go on,” she said to all of them. “it’s just my lace. Will, can you get Scrufkin back there as fast as you can? He’s desperate for water. It should be clearing up by now.”
Scrufkin limped on cue. Reluctantly, Will picked him up and pressed on through the tunnels.
Ash had hung back for one more look at the Great Destination. The colours cleared his eyes and helped him focus. He had a lively Edward Arthur to hand back to Nory, perhaps a letter to find from Elanora, soulings to seek and such life changing news for his mother that the prospect of returning home almost overruled his desire to stay. He closed his eyes and this time an image of Elanora formed sharp and clear; radiant, beautiful, unattainable.
Ashden pulled the putty from his pocket and flipped it over in his palm. It had hardened even more and had to it a mother-of-pearl sheen. Eskatoria swung down onto his other hand.
“We’ve got important things to do, the two of us,” he said, pocketing the stone and dragging his fringe across his face. Eski smiled up at him, her big eyes blinking black. Happily, she swung herself to the floor and scampered after Edward Arthur.
Elanora rose from her lace tying as the monkey dashed past.
Ashden stood before her framed by the opaline colours of the Great Destination.
Neither spoke a word.
But they looked into each other’s eyes at last.
Epilogue
Oscar Rindman stood at the base of the fig with not just his heart beating but his entire internal system pumping like an infected boil. He gripped the hammer more tightly and rubbed his thumb up and down the wooden handle, gliding on a film of sweat. In his other hand he held a long copper nail; five others poked his skin through his short’s pocket. The Internet had at least come in handy for providing a means of quiet execution for the tree.
His eyes scanned it thoroughly, monitoring the slightest movement of branch or twitch of leaf. Everything was still. Not even a hint of wind to unsettle the canopy. Nimble as a cat he jumped onto one of the roots and pounded the nail deep into the trunk before springing back and scanning the fig once more. Wiping the back of his hand across his forehead, he shook his head at the craziness of his nerves. He dug into his pocket for the next copper spike and noticed a light breeze cool his skin. It was nice not to feel so clammy. He rested the head of the nail between his lips as he worked out the best spot for it to go.
Just as he was about to make another, less frantic leap onto the roots, he stopped. His eyes caught the copper glinting in the trunk. The head of the nail was twisting slowly but surely out. Oscar was transfixed by the turn, turning and although his pulse beat painfully loud in his ears, he couldn’t back away.
The nail popped out and cart wheeled to the ground. He stared at the black circle left in the bark and drew closer. Mesmerised. He heard his own breathing thick against the trunk as he pressed his eye to the hole. The hammer slid from his fist and the nail in his mouth slipped to the dirt. He clutched both hands on the wooden folds and tried desperately to wrench himself away from the tree but the depths of the hole had him caught and a steady black flow of dust issued from it, streaming directly into his pupil.
Released from the fig he stumbled back, clawing frantically at his eye. An encrustation like salt crystals seared his lid. Both eyes hardened as the black dust invaded his optic nerve and swept into his brain where it eddied and lodged, forming a burnished crust around itself.
He slumped onto the dirt semi-conscious. As he came to, moments later, it was to a thunderous roar in his head. Pulsating endlessly.
“At last! At last!”
####
Layer 2
Coming Soon
The Lodger has moved in, settling deep into Oscar’s system. Taking control. Through him it seeks revenge and attacking Ashden is key.
Ashden hands his mother the gift from his father, little realising the consequences. Memories from her ancient past resurface connecting her with horrors that will stalk them in the second layer of the Timefold.
Elanora was folded out of time. She lost her parents, so she thought. But there are others who know the truth...part of it, at least. In uncovering Elanora’s ancestry and the bloodline connecting them, the Soulmakers meet an entirely new breed of children
and their legendary link.
As for Will, there is something unnerving about his attentions to Elanora; secrets he still needs to hide.
And for those who lose their way in the second layer of the Timefold, a Leviathan, nesting in her own filth, awaits.
From Scrubstone to Ancient Crete. Through the layers, into the labyrinth. Elanora and Ashden face danger from every unexpected turn as they challenge an ancient abuse of soul life.
And as they challenge what they mean to each other.
Author’s Note
If you enjoyed Soulmaker, please connect with me online at www.nadinecooke.com.au
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends