The Lyris

  Marcus speaks to Winter for a few minutes and then hangs up. We look at him eagerly and wait to be updated.

  “Winter says Sage knew exactly when Bailey reached the top of the mountain because the weather got better, not just here, but all around the world. He was livid. He took off on his Port.” Marcus relays.

  “Did he say anything? Do we know where he is?” Miku asks.

  “He said he should have started from the beginning and that would lead to the end.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” I ask.

  “I don’t know, but the Sage is an evil bastard. He wouldn’t take losing very well,” Marcus gathers.

  “No, he would want to retaliate,” I add.

  “What else can he possibly do to us?” Jay asks.

  Anger flashes in Marcus’s eyes. His hands ball up in fist and he sneers.

  “Argh, that delusional lunatic!” Marcus rants.

  “What is it?” I ask.

  “He’s planning to destroy us,” Marcus says.

  “Yeah, we know that already,” Miku counters.

  “No, he tried to take us out but it didn’t work. So now he’s going to do the next best thing to ensure he never has an Angel problem,” Marcus informs us.

  “How could he guarantee he never has to worry about Angels?” I ask, clueless.

  “By making sure we’re the last generation.”

  “He’s going to Noni. To destroy it,” Jay replies, fear in his voice.

  “He would destroy thousands of babies?” I ask, dumbfounded.

  “If it means the Angel race would die with us, hell yeah,” Miku says.

  “Let’s go find him,” Marcus replies in a deadly tone.

  We fly back up to the mountain. Rage watches over Bailey as if she were just sleeping, while Ameana watches over him protectively. She signals to us that she is unable to get Rage to move away from Bailey’s body.

  Jay looks at Rage and for the first time, it’s not a look of contempt. He studies Rage as the Demon lovingly strokes Bailey’s cheeks and feels sorry for him. Jay asks Rage a simple question. But that question would do what Ameana could not; get him to snap back to reality.

  “Hey Akon, we’re gonna kill a Sage, you down?”

  Rage looks up from Bailey’s body for the first time. A light flashes in his eyes. His anger is mixed with a lust for vengeance.

  “It has to hurt,” Rage says.

  Marcus and Jay nod in agreement.

  Marcus calls Rahell to plan a human funeral for Bailey. She is happy to help and rushes to our location. We say our goodbyes. Rage and Ameana kiss her forehead as she Rahell carries her away.

  Rage and the team take off. For the first time, I’m afraid of them. I’m not afraid for my safety.

  I’m afraid because I’ve never felt this much rage and fury among Angels before. There is nothing peaceful about them in this moment.

  I don’t get the feeling of grace or calm, like I normally do around them. Right now, the Guardians aren’t Angels; they are powerful, pissed off beings with one goal: to kill.

  The entrance to Noni is at the edge of a clearing, in a forest, in South America. It’s a circular platform that’s hidden by trees. According to Marcus, once you get on the platform, it illuminates and takes you to the front gate of Noni. Not only is Noni the only place a Sib can grow; it’s the only light left.

  Normally, the Sage, using a Port, would get here before us. Today, however, the speed of enraged Angels and a blood thirsty Akon, wins over the Port. Marcus has us put a plan in place that has three stages. The first stage is to take out the Demons that have come ahead of the Sage.

  The second stage is to find the Sage’s Demon, since he would never come alone. We find the first Demon by accident. Marcus Reflects his fear back to him until he gives up the location of the other Demons. Jay Glides behind several of them and snaps their necks before they even realize he is there. I’ve never seen Jay this singularly focused on inflicting pain.

  Ameana gets the jump on the Demons with her fight training. But the part she loves is impaling them onto tree branches; calling for stray vines and wrapping them around the Demons’ necks until their eye balls pop out. Her actions are not just those of an angry Angel, they are those of a girl who’s had someone she loves taken away. Ameana is in pain and she wants to spread it around to Demons everywhere.

  Miku and I work together. She uses me as bait to lure the Demons out; when we were going over the plan, Miku and I wisely left this part out, or Marcus would have freaked. But our plan works well. I lie on the forest floor and like some spacey chick in a horror movie, who suddenly can’t remember how to put one foot in front of the other and run.

  I call out for help; they hear me and figure they can kill a silly little human while they wait for their boss to show up. When they get close enough, Miku tackles them and hums a murderous little melody in their ears, causing a trail of carnage far and wide.

  Marcus is really thrown by Bailey’s death too. I can tell, because instead of Reflecting his power to the Demons, he beats them to death. The beatings are slow, merciless and brutal. Like everything else, I’m sure he has Bailey’s death on his conscience.

  As savage and vicious as the Guardians are in taking out the Sage’s Demons, no one is more cruel and wicked than Rage. He grabs a Demon by his neck, forces him to open his mouth and drops a fire ball inside it. The Demon is cooked from inside out.

  Rage is tackled by three Demons and we rush to help, but he refuses it. Seconds later, he has summoned a dark blue colored power ball. He sets the Demons on fire but they are dying so slowly, they beg and beg him to kill them quicker. He does not. The Demons are left roasting over open flames for another hour.

  Presently, we move on to part three of the plan: we hide and wait for the Sage. Soon, a young boy, who looks to be no more than six years old, pops up on a Port. He leaps off of it and heads for the platform. Marcus jumps out at him. The Sage is taken aback.

  “What, you weren’t expecting us?” Marcus asks.

  “I told you, Guardian, I don’t see everything,” he says, only mildly annoyed to be found out.

  “I knew you’d be here,” Marcus says.

  “Really? And why is that?”

  “Because you’re a coward. Only cowards go after defenseless babies.”

  “The ‘defenseless’ babies you speak of will grow to be powerful Angels who screw up the world. I am helping to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  “Wow, every time I think you can’t get more deluded, you prove me wrong.”

  “Why can’t you understand the reason behind my actions? Your kind has had the chance to rule humanity for thousands of cycles. And look how they have turned out. Let me take over. Let me lead them.”

  “Lead by force?”

  “Lead them with a kind yet firm hand.”

  “You want slaves, Sage.” Marcus accuses.

  “I want Believers.”

  “So you’re willing to kill every soul in Noni to ensure that we are the last Angels?”

  “Well you see, Marcus, that’s what makes me a better leader than you; I do what needs to be done.”

  “You know, I’m learning that same lesson right now. And what I need to do is make sure this is your last day on Earth.”

  “Did you really think I would come here alone?” Sage says, laughing crudely.

  “No, actually I was betting you’d come with a ton of Demons,” Marcus replies with smile.

  The Sage follows Marcus’s gaze. The team and I come from the trees. All of us are bloody from having battled and defeated his guards.

  “Where are my Demons?” The Sage asks, showing emotion for the first time.

  “Well, the thing about being a Demon is that you never get any time off. You never get to relax and you know…listen to some music,” Rage says.

  Miku laughs and the Sage’s face twists with anger.

  “It was a great concert. I sang beautifully. You should have been there,” Mi
ku says, smiling.

  “She could do a repeat performance, just for you,” Ameana offers the Sage.

  “You dismembered my team; clever, Marcus, you knew I would send them ahead,” Sage replies.

  “I knew you would let other people fight for you. That’s your weakness; you’re always scared to fight your own battles.”

  Jay Glides up to the Sage and takes the box he holds in his hand. It’s filled with a blue-black powder. Rage tells us it’s from the black market. It’s called Loop. It’s a highly explosive power that goes off once it makes contact with the light.

  “So that was your plan? Blow it all up?” Rage asks the Sage.

  “You’re a disgrace to your—” Sage begins.

  Rage decks him and goes falls to the ground.

  “Oh, so that’s your plan, to beat a little boy to death?” The Sage asks.

  I shake my head. How dare he pretend like he’s a normal kid?

  “No, Sage. We are not going to beat you. You wanted to blow something up, go right ahead.” Marcus says.

  He looks at us confused. Jay moves faster than then light, and before the Sage knows what’s happening, he has been tied to the platform with Samson string along with the box of explosives.

  “Once it makes contact with the light…boom.” Rage says.

  “You’re willing to destroy Noni, just to kill me?” The Sage asks.

  “We had a plan with three stages. The first stage: protect Noni. Every inch of the gate has an Alexi standing in front of it. They are immortal. Nothing you do can harm them. And since they now stand between you and the gate, the Sibs are safe.” Marcus informs him.

  “You wanted to blow something up; you should get your wish.” Rage says.

  “Goodbye, Sage,” Marcus says coldly, as the platform begins to ascend.

  For the first time since I’ve known him, the Sage starts to panic. He tries in vain to free himself as the platform goes up. He begs us to try and understand the vision behind his master plan.

  Marcus tells us it’s time to go. As we walk away, the platform continues to rise. We hear the Sage begging for us to help him. Then just as he is about to disappear into the light and meet a painful death, he calls out after me.

  “Emerson, you can’t let them do this. This is murder. You’re too good to let this happen,” he says franticly.

  “You’ve misjudged me,” I reply.

  He starts to laugh as the platform nears the light.

  “Your end is coming soon, Emerson. You killed Lucy’s son and she will gut you open and feed your organs to her Death Stalkers. You can’t run from her!” He screams.

  I turn and walk back to the Sage. I hear Marcus yelling at me because the platform is about to blow up. I don’t care; I need to say something and I need the Sage to hear it.

  Unfortunately Marcus does care. He flies down and snatches me up into his arms; just as the platform and the Sage blow up. The explosion is ear piercing and causes a blinding light and kills nearly every living thing in the forest.

  As Marcus cuts through the sky to avoid the debris, I look down at what remains of the Sage and I scream with such hatred and rage, I’m sure he can hear me in whatever hell he ends up in.

  “When you get to hell, take this message to that bitch, Lucy: tell her I’m here. I’m waiting. Bring it!”

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT:

  THE HACKER

  We are waiting in the lobby of the Belmar hotel in Scotland. It’s one of the few places still standing after the Goumy. Several Paras were staying here and they were able to use their powers to ward off some of the devastation. The world has changed in the past few hours.

  Communications are back up and people all over the world can now speak to each other over the phone and online.

  The Original Paras have been holding a meeting for the last thirty minutes. We were not invited to join, of course, because it’s Paras only. But among the Paras in the room is our friend Wolf.

  As he walked by us, he and Ameana exchanged an intense glance. Rage is not happy about it.

  Something tells me that Wolf isn’t ready to give up on her.

  It’s amazing how quickly Earth is recovering with the help of the Paras and Angels. The Foundation soldiers are also lending a hand. But the thing that impresses me the most is how us humans are banding together. People everywhere are taking part in rebuilding their communities.

  Despite the loss of both lives and property, there’s hope in the air.

  It’s nearly an hour before Raphael comes out and greets us. We all stand and follow him to a conference room, as per his instructions. The room has large windows with breathtaking views of Scotland. He asks us all to be seated.

  “The Originals wanted me to thank you for your service to both our race and that of humanity,” Raphael says, sounding far more formal than when we first met him.

  “It was our duty; we were happy to do it,” Marcus replies.

  “Yes, but it came at a high price, did it not?” Miku and Rage bow their heads. “Marcus, your team has done the impossible. We should be celebrating your victory and honoring you with everything we have to offer.”

  “Raphael, thank you; but the truth is while we have succeeded in killing the Goumy and the Sage, we have failed to get the Shoma back together. We now only have a few hours. We can try, but we don’t even know where to start,” Marcus admits sadly.

  “You see, given the sacrifices that you and your team have made, you have more than earned our help. You should get the members of your team back and the Lyris.”

  “Wait, can you do that?” I ask.

  “No, we cannot,” Raphael says with regret.

  “Oh,” I reply feeling a pit of ice form in my stomach.

  “But what we can do is give you the one thing you always seem to be lacking,” Raphael replies.

  “What’s that?” Miku asks.

  “Time.”

  “I don’t understand,” Jay says.

  Phew, I thought it was just me.

  “What you and your team did was courageous and selfless. You should be rewarded and what better gift, than the gift of time. So the Originals ‘unofficially’ hired a hacker to reset the Shoma and give your team the time you were lacking.”

  “How would a hacker do that?” Rage asks.

  “Well, the Shoma is programmed just like most things by The Council. And like most things that can be programmed, they can be hacked,” he flashes a sneaky smile.

  “You hacked the Shoma?” Marcus asks, in disbelief.

  “Well, there’s no evidence of that. All we know is that someone somehow was able to program the Shoma remotely so that it reset.”

  “Is that allowed?” Ameana asks.

  “That’s a violation of The Council rules, but since there is no Council at this time…I think the rules are suspended,” he says slyly.

  “Okay, so you—”

  “—hey, hey, there’s no evidence it was me,” Raphael reminds him.

  “Okay, so someone hacked the Shoma and reset it to start the clock again? And as a reward, the Originals are letting that stand, so we now have sixty days to find it?” Marcus says weak with relief.

  “No, you have sixty-three days.”

  “Wait, why?” Miku wonders.

  “This hacker person must have thought you and your team deserved a break; three days to have some fun.”

  “Fun?” Marcus replies.

  “This hacker may have seen you and your team struggle. He may have seen the weight the mission has burdened you all with and thought you would greatly benefit from a three-day weekend.”

  “Why couldn’t he give us a year, or more than that?” Jay asks.

  “The Shoma can only be reset once. Even the best hacker will not be able to give you more than sixty days. In fact, it took all his strength and power to trick the Shoma into ‘forgetting’ to start the timer for seventy-two hours. I am afraid that is all the time you get.”

  “That’s all we need. Don’t worr
y, we’ll get the Shoma back together and a new Council will arise,” Marcus assures him.

  “We hope you do; if you don’t, the souls of humans that should have gone to the light will linger in limbo forever. As for us, we’ll never get back home. We’re losing power every day we are away from the light. If you don’t succeed, we’ll die here.”

  “We won’t fail,” Jay promises.

  “We’re so honored to be given another chance. How can we thank you—I mean this hacker?” Ameana asks.

  “I heard he might be into video games…?” Raphael offers.

  “Okay, do you know which—”

  “--Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Xbox 360 console with a larger hard drive and ammo crate casing. Or, whatever,” he says, catching himself.

  The team tries not to laugh out loud as we thank him again and head out the door.

  “We can use the three extra days to get a head start on the mission,” Marcus says to me.

  Raphael over hears and calls Marcus and I back to the conference room.

  “What is?” Marcus asks.

  “You cannot start this mission for three days.” Raphael replies.

  “Why?” I ask.

  “Your team is falling apart. The hacker gave you three days to try and fix that. You’ve lost a teammate and, from what I’ve heard, Rio was also a good friend. You should have a whole cycle to grieve but you don’t. The least you can do is take the three days given to you.”

  “I don’t know how difficult this mission might be. We need all the time we can get,” Marcus says.

  “There’s a private island in the Caribbean, called O-nay. It’s very secluded; very beautiful. Arden and Rahell’s father bought it for them a few cycles ago. I suggested they give you and your team the use of the island next three days; they loved the idea.”

  “I’m not sure now is the time…” Marcus replies.

  “You should take the time now, while you still have a team. The tension is mounting.”

  “I think he’s right,” I add.

  Marcus turns to me, surprised.

  “Well, why not? We deserve time off. And if we can get it and still get the sixty days…let’s do it.”