Ascension (16 page)

A sinister smile distorted his face as his black eyes bore into her.  That gaze was unearthly.  Laura froze where she stood.

The smile came and went, but the man made no move toward her.  Neither did he relent on that gaze.  His eyes did not shift from her face.  Laura did not know what to do.  If this was who she thought it was, he should be attacking her, or her him, right at this moment.  Neither of those things came to pass.  Instead, Laura just stood there, unable to move a muscle, as the man continued to examine her.  A long minute passed, and Laura felt like she was stuck in some sort of limbo.  She could not move her eyes from his face, either.

“It is true,” he said finally, muttering the words as if in disbelief.  “You are here.”  On hearing his voice, Laura jerked backwards, ending the spell.  His voice was smooth and rich, but possessed a subtle menacing overtone.  Laura backpedalled until she hit the wall.  That voice had an uncanny resemblance to Logan’s.

“Do you know where you are, girl?” the man asked, not moving from his seat.  “Do you know where you’ve brought me?”

“Who are you?” Laura asked.  Her voice trembled.  She knew that with the
torrial
she had, she should be able to face anyone here.  Yet, the man still frightened her.  It felt like she had gone to war with nothing more than a toothpick.

The man smiled again, then threw his head back and laughed.  It was a rich, full laugh, and the sound filled the small space of the cabin until Laura felt like suffocating.  He did not stop before he ran out of breath, and even then, when he returned his attention to her, Laura could hear the echoes of his laughter in her mind.

“Do not ask stupid questions that you already know the answers to,” came the man’s reply.  He said it with such scorn that Laura had to flinch.  His answer confirmed who he was.  He looked at her, and frowned.  “What I would like to know,” he said slowly, “is how someone like you found the strength to bring me here.”

Laura could find no words.  Her resolve to see justice done against the elders did not give her the courage she expected.  It was not that she was
frightened
when she looked at the man, per se, but rather that his very presence made her feel less sure of herself.  And she had never felt that way, not since her
Vassiz
transformation.  The closest thing she could think of was a pupil facing her master.

 “You’re not one for talking, hmm?” the man mused after a few moments.  “Very well.”  He thrust his arm toward Laura, and she felt an invisible force wrap itself tightly around her arms, her legs.  She tried to resist, but whatever the elder did had her stuck in place.  The force extended upwards, wrapping itself around her neck like a collar, and pulling in tight.  She couldn’t even squirm. 

Instantly, her mind flashed back to being imprisoned by Borrak and Serkhol.  She could
not
face that again.  No.  She squeezed her eyes shut, and willed the force to go away.  She had control over this place.  She strained… and nothing happened.  Her pulse quickened, and her breathing increased.  The elder had her trapped because she had been so absolutely careless!  Anger seethed inside of her, anger at herself for walking into such a dangerous situation and not being prepared.  She tried again, imagining the force dissipating, calling on her control over the dream to make it so.  Nothing happened.  The confines of the force pressed against her wrists and ankles, latching her tightly to the wall.  The collar around her neck tightened, making it difficult to breathe. 
Control!
  She had it here, she could make this go away.  But no matter how hard she tried, nothing happened. 

Laughter interrupted her efforts.  Laura opened her eyes.  The man had not moved from the bed, and neither did he lower the hand that was extended toward her.  But he was shaking with laughter.  It was not the gregarious laugh from before; no, this was a cruel, sinister laugh.  The laugh of someone who knew he had absolute advantage.

“You thought it would be simple, didn’t you?” came the mocking voice from the bed.  “That you could just come here, with all the experience of a newborn calf, and expect to challenge me?”  The constraint around Laura’s neck tightened, until each breathe became a rasping struggle for life.  “You know not a fifth of the nature of this place.  Not a hundredth!  You are naïve, girl, to think that you alone could stand up to the elders.  Do not gape.  I know who you are, but more importantly, I know what you are here for.  Did you truly believe we did not anticipate this threat from you?  We knew the moment our twisted half-brothers were freed from their prison.”  He paused for effect, then slowly pushed himself up, off the bed.  The hand he directed at Laura did not waver.  “What interests me more, however,” he continued, turning toward her, “is how you managed to bring me here without my consent.  There is only once device in the entire world with the power to do so.  But how could you find access it?  Where?  Answers to that are worth more to me than anything else.  More than life itself.  More than you.”  Laura tried to move, but could not.  Her mind worked furiously, desperately trying to find the control necessary to free herself of the bonds.  Nothing worked.  The man – the elder – walked closer to her, and fire raged in his eyes.  “I will get answers to these questions, Laura, whether you will it or not.”

In one smooth motion, he brought his other hand up and wrapped it around her neck.  Crudely, he forced Laura’s head up, so that she looked at him.  And without warning, he reached into her mind.

A searing pain exploded from behind her temples.  She saw a flash of red, and felt her memories being ripped out of her.  She tried to fight back, to stop it from happening, but could not.  A stream of all her memories became a river, then a flood.  The elder was invading her most private thoughts, and she could do nothing to stop it.  She
felt
the drain of her thoughts escaping her and flowing to him.  He was sucking her mind dry, much as she had sucked the blood out of the listless
Vassiz
woman at her first feeding.  If she let it continue, there would soon be nothing left… If she…

The flow cut off, and the pain ceased.  The elder still held his hand around her throat, but his eyes were closed, as if savoring the taste of her defeat.  Laura was left gaping.  She was now empty and hollow.  She had not been able to hold anything back.  She knew that he had taken everything she had.  From the location of the repository, to the plans that she and the angels laid out, to the identity of all those who had helped her, she had given it all away.  Remorse and sadness filled her.  After the elder was done with her, everyone she knew would suffer.  Alexander’s and Madison’s identity was now known, as would Jacob’s.  And of course Logan’s.  All because she was too weak to resist whatever the elder had done.  She felt tears of hopelessness rise up within her, but forced them down.  Whatever happened, she would
not
give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. 

The man released his grip, and with that, all the bonds that held her dissolved.  Laura fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes.  She could breathe again, and gulped down the sweet, precious air.  She expected a blow to come, and readied her body.  Nothing happened.  After a few seconds, she looked up.  The man had stepped away from her, and was now looking out the window on the other side of the cabin.  The fire in the hearth continued to flare, illuminating the whole room with its wicked, heatless flame.  The man had his back to her – that was how much he considered her a threat!  Laura felt the
torrial
she still held in her hand.  If it did not help her now, it never would.  She closed her eyes, starting to focus…

“I would not do that if I were you.”  The casualness of the elder’s voice startled Laura.  She looked up.  He had still not turned away from the window, and his hands were clasped behind his back.  “Do you think I don’t know of the
torrial
you hold?  Try, if you dare, to use it against me.  But I must warn you that you will not like the repercussions.”

Laura paused.  Surely if the elder knew of the
torrial
she had, he would take it away?  But perhaps it was not as valuable against him as she thought.  Perhaps he was much
more
powerful than she thought. 

“You do not need to fear me, Laura.  At least, not yet.”  He chuckled again.  “The knowledge you hold is valuable; you yourself are valuable.  As a council of elders, we recognized the threat you posed to us.  And we acknowledged that something must be done about it.  The only thing we could agree to, unfortunately, was to see you killed.”  He turned and looked at her.  “But you must understand that it was not an ideal solution.  For you, least of all.”  He turned away.

“What do you mean?” Laura asked.  She had managed to stand up, but still felt weak.  She had to hold on to something, and used the wall behind her for support.  Her voice shook.

“What I am saying, Laura, is that I am not like some of the others.  I pride myself on being able to see the bigger picture more often than they.  I always thought that the proposed method of dealing with you was… wasteful.  Surely, someone with as much ability as yourself might prove useful in the future?”

“What do you mean?” Laura repeated.  Was he trying to reason with her?  Why?  What did he want?

“Let’s not mince words.  You know the prophecy as well as I do. 
When darkness comes, and hope is lost, a shimmering star shall be revealed.  And she will free the fallen ones, restoring order to the rule of man
.  Are those not the words you know?  The ones that brought you to me?”

“…They are,” Laura admitted uncertainly.

“But there is more to it that drives you, isn’t there?  I know what
Gabrielle
told you.”  He spat the name, as if it were of a hated rival.  “He said you were a human child, taken in the dream, and ripped to reality.  Did he not?”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because of what I can offer you, Laura.  I can grant you understanding.  Of who you are.  Of your birth.  Do not look at me like I am a fool!  Of you
true
birth.”

“Why… why would you do that?”

“Because I am not so narrow-minded as the rest.  We should not be fighting prophecy but embracing it.  If you bring change, so be it.  But I do not want to lose power after it.”

“No!” Laura cried out.  She would not agree to anything that would keep the elders, any of them, in control of the
Vassiz
.  The race needed to be free.  And in the back of Laura’s mind, a voice cried out with all the warnings she’d heard about the elders.  That they lie.  That they deceit.  Without discretion, and without mercy.

“No?” The elder turned and smiled cruelly.  “I could crush you like the ant you are with the blink of an eye.  You are lucky I am the one you brought here.  The others… they would not be so kind, nor so
forgiving
.  But do not forget yourself before me!”

Something struck the back of Laura’s knee, causing it to buckle.  She fell onto the floor harshly. 

“Ah.  Much better.  You will bow before me, and show the respect that you owe!  If you can manage that, I might let you live.”

“What do you want?” Laura asked through strained teeth.  All her strength felt sapped away.  She tried standing, but the force that held her before was back, and it was laced around both her ankles.  Her upper body was free, but she could not shift from the subservient position.

“A truce, of sorts.”  The force holding Laura disappeared.  “You may stand now, if you wish.  I will be frank with you.  Your hatred of the elders… is understandable.  To be honest, I share much of your distaste about my colleagues.  The string of events that led me to my current position were merely one unfortunate circumstance after another, and… well, I believe I might help you.”

“Help me?  How?”  Laura did not move from where she was.  Even though the bonds were gone, she did not want to appear irreverent.  Not now.

“I could help you with your quest.  You have precious little control over this world, while I, much more.”  As if to illustrate his point, the fire burning beside them flared wildly.  Its flames licked around the man’s face, and came close to Laura, but she could feel no heat.  “I could help you destroy the others.  All that I ask in return is that you pledge allegiance to me.  Bow before me as your true master.  Help me seize control of the others.  Then, I will spare your life.”

Laura’s eyes widened.  Was he telling the truth?  Could he possibly be willing
help
her?  But, she knew she could not trust him.  A thing that Madison said once rang through her mind. 
The elders would destroy each other if given the chance, only in search of greater power
.  She was in a dangerous game.  If she could convince him that she would do so, and then use him to kill the others, only to turn on him at the very end… but he would anticipate something like that, would he not?

“Do not try to lie to me either, Laura.  I will know if you are truthful or not.”

“How can I trust you?” Laura asked finally.  She had to buy herself more time to think.  She was also becoming more aware of the wound she had taken in the human world.  A dull pain had started to resonate in her heel.  Wait – that was it.  If the elder knew her memories, he knew of the wound.  And he knew that without the proper attention, she would die.  He was planning on using her to destroy his competition, and then let her rot away while he inherited all the power of the elder council!  That was the only explanation for his offer.