The Shoma

  “What else?” Marcus asks.

  “This is my own little invention. I call it a Mole.” Raphael says, beaming with pride as he takes out a ping pong size silver ball from his pocket.

  “It’s a light that can only be seen by the eyes it’s programmed to see. In other words, you could be standing right in front of the light and not see. Only the beings that were predetermined to see it can do so. This is very important because Egans are almost always slumbering and should they see the light, it will almost certainly wake them.”

  “Why are they sleeping?” I ask.

  “While Lucy had a right to have demons that were the equivalent of Paras, the Council worried about them walking the earth. So they are made to be in a constant state of sleep. When they sleep, the Gar on their bodies is merely flickering, but when they are awake, they are essentially a walking, thinking, living blaze. That brings me to my most important point; you are not to make a sound once you enter the desert.”

  “How quiet do we need to be?” Miku asks.

  “Guardian, no weapon I give you will save you if the Egans awake; silence is the only key to surviving this mission,” he warns.

  “We can do that.” Marcus replies confidently.

  “Also, there is an archway in the middle of the desert, called ‘Lucy’s Lips’. Once you go under it, your powers will disappear. It will only return, once you make it back over to the other side.”

  “Why is that?” I ask.

  He goes on to tell Marcus what the orb containing the Alpha will look like and reminds that only his hands can unlock the orb.

  “Is there anything else?” Raphael asks us.

  “No, we are clear on everything.” Marcus replies.

  “Actually, I have a question.” Alex says.

  “Yes?” Raphael response.

  “Why is it okay for me to sit this part out, but you are okay with sending Emerson?”

  I swear I’m going to kill him. I’m just going to wrap my hand around his meddlesomeneck and squeeze.

  “Marcus is more than capable of deciding who is and isn’t on his team.” Raphael replies.

  “You’re really going to let her go on this mission?” Alex challenges.

  “I stand a better chance of getting Omnis to take CP with me, than I do getting her to sit out a mission!” Marcus snaps.

  “Is she really that stubborn?” Alex says.

  Everyone in the room starts to talk all at once. They’re all in agreement and begin to give examples of how “pig headed” and “unyielding” I can be. Even Raphael joins in.

  “HEY!” I shout, causing the room to go silent.

  They all turn to look at me. I look straight back at them with irritation and disbelief.

  “I’m glad you all have found something to bond over, but you guys can just knock it off because I am not stepping aside.” I tell them.

  “See what I mean?” Marcus says shaking his head.

  I flash him a warning. He sighs and speaks his next few words carefully.

  “I’m just babe…it wouldn’t be a bad idea if you were to…let this one happen without you.” He says gently.

  “Okay then, I will sit out this mission.” I reply.

  “You will?” Jay says.

  “Yeah, but only if Ameana sits it out too.” I inform them.

  Rage addresses his future wife.

  “Ameana would—”

  “—Don’t. Do. It.” She cautions him.

  “Then I guess it’s settled. I’m going.” I tell Marcus.

  He reluctantly agrees and Raphael then proceeds to show us how to use the weapons he’s brought us. When no one is looking I pull Alex to the side.

  “What is your problem with me?” I demand in a harsh whisper.

  “Well, I happen to like the way your skin feels, I would love it if Demons didn’t set it on fire a few hours from now.” He replies.

  “It has taken me a long time to get them to stop questioning if I can handle missions or not. I will not allow you to undermine all my hard work.”

  “I’m not trying to piss you off. I’m trying to keep you safe.”

  “I can keep myself safe. I’m not a child. And should I need rescuing, I have someone that that does that for me and it’s not you.”

  “Fair enough.” He says dejected.

  I open my mouth to say something, not sure what, but he’s already walked away from me. That’s fine. He needed that. He needs me to snap at him. He had no right to call me out like that. I am part of this team and I go where they go. And my harsh tone also lets him know that he’s not with me and that we are in no way, together. Yes, these are all good things for him to know.

  As I walk back towards the team and listen as they go over the plans once again. I am consumed with all things mission related. Well, except for this one thought I keep having.

  It’s the kind of thought that serves no purpose at all. Yet, won’t go away.

  Alex Montrose likes the way my skin feels…

  A short while later we land in the Sahara desert. We’re in the western region of Libya.

  We are just North of the Acacus Mountains. Or so that’s what “Wikipedia” says Jay tells us. All we can see for miles are orange colored sand dunes; and large rock formations.

  We see the archway Raphael told us about. Just beyond it, a few miles in, there is the colossal hole where the Egans sleep. According to the last clue, inside that abyss should be the first Alpha.

  We go over the plan once again and then walk through the archway. And sure enough, as soon as we do, everyone’s wings start to fade. Soon, they disappear completely. Marcus signals to remind us that we are to be completely silent.

  Although, we can see no one else, it feels like we are being watched. I could swear the stars are spying on us. To make things worse, the wind sings a song of caution with its frosty breath. The song has only two words; turn back.

  When we start to pick up the pace, Marcus cautions us not to rush. It is more important for us to be silent than it is to be quick. So we are forced to walk slowly across the vast desert. It’s like creeping down a thousand haunted hallways knowing that the evil is expecting us...

  Looking around, I’m not the only one on alert overload. I see an emotion I rarely see in the Guardians and in Rage; apprehension.

  If we wake the Egans, we will all die.

  A sense of dread and impending doom wraps itself around me, making it hard to move my limbs. Marcus looks over at me and mouths the words “Are you ok?”

  No, I’m not ok; we are creeping into the crater of an undefeatable evil.

  Marcus mouths the words again “Emmy, are you ok?”

  I force myself to nod and we continue toward the gaping chasm. Every time I place my foot on the ground, I expect a hoard of flesh seeking Demons to converge upon us. Every step I take where that doesn’t happen, I breathe a sigh of relief, but how long will our luck hold out?

  The void is only half a mile away from us, but the fear of being overheard combined with the agonizing slow pace we are forced to take, makes the half-mile feel more like a hundred. Finally, we make it to the rim of the abyss.

  Marcus signals for Ameana and Rage to get the Samson Rig ready. Once it’s set up, we use the Mole light to look into the void to see how far it goes. Marcus signals to us he can’t make out the bottom of the hole. The depths of Hell, it would seem are ongoing.

  I desperately want to stop him from climbing into the abyss, but he really has no choice; none of us do. Rage signals to us that the Samson Rig is ready. Marcus gathers as much of Samson rope as he can and gently lowers down into the hole. Before Marcus climbs down the rope, we make eye contact. I signal to him that I am okay with what he is about to do. In other words, I lie.

  He points at us in the order he wants us to descend down the rope. I’m the last one to climb down so that in case something happens, I am the closest to safety. The being that goes next to last is Ameana; Miku, Jay and Rage follow her.

  Onc
e Marcus climbs down far enough he all but disappears into the void. I’m the last one to experience inside the abyss. I take a deep breath and say a silent prayer to Omnis, then I slowly climb down into the center of evil.

  The first thing that gets me is the stench of sewage and decay. It fills my nostrils and causes my eyes to water. My hand hurts from gripping the rope and the fiber cuts into my skin as I descend. I feel the weight of the team pulling on the rope below me, I hope to Omnis it can hold all of us.

  The void is deeper than anything I could have imagined. It must have taken at least two hours to get to the bottom. By then, I am exhausted and on the verge of letting go.

  Thankfully just when my strength is about give out, I start to see the Mole light down below, letting us know we are near the bottom.

  Soon, I feel Rage’s hand on my back helping me land safely and quietly. Once we have all reached the bottom, Marcus signals with the light so that we can see what is around us and I really, really wished he hadn’t.

  We are in the nest of hundreds of sleeping Egans. They have rotting flesh that hangs off of their skeletal frames and gaping cavities where their eyes and mouths should be. Their boney claws drip blue flames.

  What is essential to our survival is continued silence, but when I see one of the Egans stir, I go to scream. Miku quickly covers my mouth and suppresses the sound. She signals to me to remember to stay quiet by placing her finger over her lips. Marcus points toward a baseball sized orb that floats in midair. Inside of it is a leaf shaped carving with the council’s symbol. We have found the first Alpha.

  Marcus carefully goes over to the orb and places his hands on either side of it. This causes the orb to split itself in half and the Alpha piece floats up and into his hand.

  Marcus smiles and signals for us to head back to the rope. Soon, we are all heading back toward the opening. The euphoria of having found the first Alpha makes me feel revitalized. I climb up the rope fast; too fast.

  I am so busy climbing away; I don’t realize the chain around my neck that holds my engagement ring has come loose. Before I can stop it, it slides off my neck. At the last second, I am able to grab the chain before it falls below. However, while I catch the chain in time, the ring itself slides off and plummets into the abyss.

  Marcus catches the ring a fraction of a second before it lands. Every one of us is rendered still. Even though Marcus caught the ring, there is still a chance the extra movement caused the Egans to awake. We pray. We hope. After a few tense moments, we determined that we have not been detected and proceed to climb up the rope.

  Once I make it back up, I am relieved and grateful to have escaped the pit of darkness. I turn towards the hole in order to help the others as they emerge. By the time Marcus comes up from the hole, I am barely able to hold my emotions.

  I embrace him tightly, but he doesn’t hug me back. His body is tense; I can feel the muscles in his abs tighten and contract. I look up into his face and I don’t see joy or relief of having made it out of the abyss. Instead I see dread and all out shock.

  Marcus is focused on something behind me. I turn slowly to see what had caught his attention. I find myself staring back at sea of Egans. That’s when we realized Lucy and the inventor must have come up with a way to expand her army. There are thousands of Egans, and they head straight for us.

  We take off running across the desert as the Egans send a primal cry out into the air and awaken the others. As we race across the desert, we hear them climbing out of the abyss.

  Marcus shouts for us to use our weapons. I almost forgot the Rev imprinted inside my palm. I hold my hand out and continually fire at the Demons that surround us. The team skillfully does likewise, but once again our weapons do very little to help our situation.

  “There’s too many of them.” Ameana says, as she blasts her way past two Egans that grab her foot.

  She is able to get away, but soon she is once again surrounded. Marcus directs us to take cover behind a massive rock formation while he holds the army off along with Jay and Rage.

  “We need to get our powers back!” Miku shouts.

  She is right, but unfortunately, the archway we need to go through to make their power’s return is in the opposite direction. We have to blast our way through thousands of Egans.

  “The guys aren’t going to be able to hold them off much longer. We have to kill them!” I scream as I blast an Egan who had come too close.

  The blast hits the rocks and causes a rockslide just above my head. Miku pushes me out of the way just in time.

  “Emmy, remember no force on Earth can stop them.” Miku replies.

  “That’s it! No force on Earth. We need help from the light; Aaden’s in Noni. He may be able to help.” Ameana replies.

  “The baby, how?” I ask.

  “The same way he was able to increase my strength when we were at the meeting with the originals—”

  Before Ameana can finish her sentence, one of the Egans sends a blue fireball straight for her. I help her get out of the way in time, but the Egans are closing in. Ameana tells us she is trying to communicate with Aaden with her thoughts however the Sib isn’t responding.

  That is when Miku suggests Aaden may not respond to his mother’s thoughts, but to her body. The Sib needs to sense her distress. I encourage her to allow the feeling of fear to enter her body. Instead, she rushes out into the mass of Egans unprotected.

  The guys look on in horror as Ameana places herself in the line of fire. Confused they call out for her to move out of harm’s way. However, it is too late, blue fire rains down towards the second in command.

  Rage leaps to her rescue and knocks her onto the ground. They are able to avoid being hit by most of the blue flames. Two of the blasts make contact with her upper body and splits her flesh open just above her shoulder.

  “No!” Rage roars, sounding like a wounded beast.

  Rage covers Ameana’s body with his own. He no longer cares that he is being fired upon.

  Suddenly, a light starts to emanate from Ameana’s body. The markings on her begin to glow. Aaden hears his father’s voice and can feel his mother’s body being drained of soul due to her injury.

  Aaden begins to funnel soul and power to his mother. Ameana slowly awakens. We watch in amazement as she gets up and glides effortlessly though the herd of Demons blasting them away.

  The Egans take aim at her, but since her power does not derive from Earth but from the light, their attacks are ineffective. She is killing Egans all around her and making a path toward the archway.

  The rest of us follow behind the Ameana/Aaden supernova. Once we make it to the archway, everyone’s wings reappear. Many of the Egans have been killed, still; a few hundred or so remain. It is not a good idea to linger. So, we rush to get airborne, but just as we are about to take off, Ameana kneels down to the ground. She is no longer glowing.

  She looks exhausted and can barely keep her eyes open.

  “I just need to rest for a few minutes.” she mumbles. Rage kneels down beside her and speaks to her with grave concern.

  “We can’t rest here, we have to go.” He says.

  He doesn’t wait for Ameana to reply. He scoops her up into his arms and takes off into the sky. Soon we are all in the air, leaving behind a wasteland of irate Demons and flames. As the sun streaks its way across the sky, I greet the new day happily.

  It’s been a long time since we went on a mission and didn’t lose anyone, but that’s exactly what happened tonight. We found the first Alpha and all of us made it back safe and sound. The Originals and their death predictions can suck it.

  CHAPTER TWENTY‐SIX:

  DIE ALREADY

  During the flight back, Ameana is so weak she can’t keep her eyes open. Rage wants to land to examine her, but Marcus says it’s better that we head straight to the Healer, without stopping. By the time we get there, Ameana is no longer conscious. Rage takes her into the exam room we were in the last time we came here. He lays her d
own on the table.

  “Fix her or I’ll kill you.” Rage says fiercely.

  The Healer looks at Rage, shocked and affronted.

  “He’s new to being polite Luna, but he loves her very much.” I reply.

  “Fix her!” Rage roars.

  I turn to him and flash him a warning.

  “Fix her… please. ” Rage begs, with a heart breaking vulnerability.

  “I will do my best. I can see she has used up most of her soul and her son’s. Why would she do that?” Luna asks.

  We quickly explain as Luna examines the Second Guardian.

  “It was smart of her to use her son and it proves their bond is exceptional, but now, he is near death; they both are.” She warns.

  “What can we do?” Jay asks.

  “Nothing. I will create a mixture and do my best to save them both.” Luna replies as she tinkers with darkly colored vials.

  Although she basically told us to leave the room, none of us make a move towards the exit.

  “You have done your jobs. Now, get out of here and let me do mine.” Luna tells Marcus.

  He nods reluctantly and ushers us out of the room. Well, most of us.

  “I’m not leaving her.” Rage promises.

  “Fine, Akon. Then help me get her into position.” Luna replies.

  The last thing we see as the door closes is Rage and Luna working as a team to turn Ameana around so Luna can study her markings.

  We now enter the waiting room surrounded by TV and Film memorabilia. Since we were here, Luna has added a collection of “Garfield” the cat statues throughout the already cluttered room.

  “Do you think she’s going to be okay?” Miku asks Jay.

  “C’mon ma, you know your girl. That chick goes hard. She can survive whatever.” Jay assures her.

  “What about Aaden? Do you think he’ll make it?”

  “Everything is gonna be gravy. It’s all gonna work out.” Jay replies.