Ascension (28 page)

“If you let me,” Logan explained, “I can make the jump.”

“What jump?” Laura asked.

“From my star to yours.”

“What do you mean?” Laura asked.

“The stars you see in the
torrial
, Laura, belong to all the living beings on this earth,” Selaine explained.  “You know that.  But it is not so simple.  Each star exists, coincidentally, in both the human realm and the dream realm.  So each being actually has
two
stars.  Whenever you enter the dream realm, or go back to the human world, you’re making the jump from one star to the other.  That is why the passage sometimes feels so ghastly.  You’re skimming through the void – the same blackness within the
torrial
– to go from one star to the other.

“Now.  There’s more to it than that.  A person cannot exist without their stars.  At any moment, you are either in one of your stars or the other.  But, no star can hold more than one sentient, living being.  At least, not permanently.  That is why what you did for the elders – entering their dreams in the manner you did – necessitates the use of the
torrial
. 

“Unfortunately, both the stars that belong to a being mirror each other.  If one is destroyed, the other is, too.  That is what makes the attack on the elders possible.  But it is also what makes Logan vulnerable.”

“So if you let me,” Logan broke in, “I can enter one of your stars.  Occupy it, as it were.  Make it my own.  I can make the jump, at the critical moment just before you destroy mine.  And the other elders’.  But it would be a permanent move.”

“You would go into my… unoccupied one?” Laura asked.  “That will let you survive the destruction of your own star?”

“Yes,” Logan answered.

“Then of course!” Laura said.  “Why would I ever protest to that?”

“Because,” Selaine answered, “it would mean forsaking your own access to the human world.”

“
What
?”

“If Logan hops into your empty star, it will become his own,” Selaine said.  “And because you’re currently using the star in the dream realm – as we all are – it would be the human one he takes over.  You will not be able to transition back in the human world ever again.”

“But it means Logan will live?” Laura asked.

“Yes,” Selaine answered.  “You both will.  But you will exist in the dream realm only.  And he in the human world.”

“Then how will we see each other?”

“The same way the elders forced their stars to exist for so long in the ether,” Logan said, “I can use to move my new star – your human star – to the dream realm.  We would be here together.”

“So that’s the choice?” Laura asked.  “To forsake the living world?  To become like the angels?”

“Like the angels,” Selaine said shrewdly, “and, like me.”

“What?” Laura exclaimed, surprised. “What do you mean, like you?”

“I exist purely in the dream realm.  It is the way of the succubus.”

“But that’s not true,” Laura said.  “You met me in the human world.  I
saw
you there.”

Selaine waved a hand dismissively.  “Nothing more than an illusion, and one you will learn to use as well.  You will
have
to use it, if you want to see anyone you know again.  There are many things I will have to teach you.  You will take my place, soon, but before then you will need guidance.  Despite my appearance, I do not intend to wither away and die the moment you take over.  The transition will take time.”

“And I will stay beside you forever, if you let me,” Logan said.  “What do you say?”

Laura looked at him.  He was exactly the man she knew.  Except he had a past that he had hidden from her.  And he had good reason for it.

“For you,” Laura said, “I will do it.”  She felt a brief regret about the implications of her choice.  It meant she could never see her family, never revisit her old life.  But this was truly a new beginning for her.  In a new world.  Together with Logan.

“Good!” Selaine exclaimed, clasping her hands together.  “I did not expect anything less.  Now, you need to go back into the void of the
torrial
.  Come, come, we don’t have much time.” 

Selaine shuffled over to the table where the globe was.  Inside the glass, dark swirling clouds obscured the millions of tiny stars.  Laura came over with Logan at her side.

“I don’t understand one thing, Selaine,” Laura said.

“Mmm?” Selaine intoned.  Her attention had shifted to the
torrial
, and she started moving her hands over it in similar fashion to what Gabrielle had done.

“Where are we right now?”

Selaine looked up briefly to meet Laura’s eye.  “Why, isn’t it obvious?  We’re inside your dream.  This is
your
star, Laura.”

Laura’s eyes widened.  “But, you were both here before me.  How?”

“In the moments you exist in the void,” Selaine explained, “both your stars become vacant.  After you killed the elder, returned to Gabrielle, and went back into the
torrial
, I brought Logan here using this.”  She motioned to the globe lying before her.  “As for me… well, I can enter dreams on my own.  Another thing I will have to teach you in time.  Right now, you need to focus on what you will have to do.”

“Alright,” Laura nodded.

“First, I need to return Logan to his star.  He will only be able to make the jump to yours from there.”  Logan gave Laura’s hand a squeeze and stepped toward Selaine.  And before Laura could blink, he was sucked into the
torrial
right before her eyes.  Selaine grunted as he went in.  Laura saw a miniscule dark shape bolt through the swirling colors and disappear among the stars.

After a few moments, Selaine looked up. “He’s returned.”

“My turn?”

“Yes.  You will enter the void alone, Laura.  I cannot accompany you.  Once you’re there, I will not be able to guide you, either.  You will need to manipulate what you can to destroy the elders’ cluster of stars at once.”

“I tried to use the darkness before,” Laura said.  “To build it up so that it overtook the cluster.  I stopped just before you brought me here.  Is that the right way?”

Selaine frowned.  “I would not have done so myself, no.”

“There is another way?”

“You need to create a type of black hole, Laura.  A special kind of emptiness, even greater than the void itself.  You will need to do it in the middle of the cluster, so the elders’ stars collapse towards it.  It has to be big enough to swallow the cluster, but not so large to disturb the delicate balance within the
torrial.
”

“How?”

“You will know when you get there.”

“That’s not very helpful.”

“It’s all I can tell you.  I’m afraid the void behaves differently for different people.  Any advice I give you based on my own experience will be of little use.”

“So I have to go at it alone?”

“I’m afraid so.  You need to have faith in yourself.”

“I do,” Laura said.  She took a deep breath.  “Alright.  I’m ready.”

“Close your eyes.”

Laura did so.  She felt an opening form in front of her.

“Take care,” Selaine said.  “What you do now will influence the state of the world for generations to come.”

No pressure
, Laura thought to herself wryly, and the next second was jolted through the opening.  The sudden jerking motion caused her to gasp and open her eyes, but her body had already dissipated.  She was floating, empty and free, in the dark river of black nothingness that stretched between the stars.

Slowly, the stars around her ebbed into being.  Laura recognized immediately where she was.  Selaine had brought her right to the edge of the elders’ cluster.

But things were different now.  The wall of black she had built before had retreated slightly, and the elders’ stars had started to shine again.  Without her there to strengthen the darkness, those stars were reclaiming their place in the void. 

She wondered if Gabrielle had had time to extricate the others from the elders’ dreams.  She prayed he had.  When she began what she needed to do, it would likely be too late.

Create a black hole, Selaine had told her.  How?  Laura didn’t know.  Perhaps she could move the cluster in some way.

She concentrated on it.  She focused her mind on the stars, on their place in the void, and on their manner of existence.  To her surprise, she realized that she could…
feel
them.  It was like her
Vassiz
gifts had followed her into the void.  Except that it wasn’t like that before.  Was it something Selaine did?

She saw the stars not only as they existed in front of her, but as clear representations of the elders in her mind’s eye.  She felt their perpetual struggle against the black, the uncanny and unnatural existence that gave them sustenance. 

And, right in the middle of them, she felt a
deeper
sort of void.  It was like the black that cloaked everything else simply did not exist there.  There was no perceptible difference between that area and any other that she could see, but with her newfound sensitivity she knew there
was
a difference.

That difference was key to everything.  Laura knew that if she could push the stars toward that one empty spot, it would create the black hole Selaine had spoken of. 

Logan’s star was there, though.  She was very conscious of that.  How would he make the jump to hers?  How would he know when to do it?  She had to trust that he knew what he was doing.

Laura felt out, and reached toward Logan’s star.  Her mind wrapped around it, and she embraced it.

Laura?  Is that you?

Logan’s voice came out of nowhere to invade her mind.  She panicked, and lost the connection she had formed.

The cluster of stars flickered and waned.  It was like they were readying for an assault.  All of them did it, except for Logan’s.  It shone effortlessly, its light unchanging.  It looked like to be the only one at peace.

Laura felt out again, and again embraced Logan’s star.  This time, she was prepared for the connection that came along with it.  It was something akin to what she experienced with the elder when she fought against him.

Laura,
Logan shouted out,
there isn’t much time.  You must do it now!

“Will you know when to jump?” Laura screamed back.  Her own voice filled her head. 

Yes
, Logan shouted. 
But you need to do it.  Do it now!

Laura focused on the cluster.  She felt each individual star in its own place in the void, felt how they fed off each other.  Felt how they fought against the black.  She felt the empty spot in their center.  And with a flick of her mind, she tore that spot open.

The cluster of stars started to spin, slowly at first, like leaves caught in an eddy.  Bit by bit, they picked up speed.  They were swirling around, but not getting any closer to the middle.  Laura forced them to come together.  It didn’t work.  She tried again, this time using the darkness around them to push against them.  This time, they started to move.

Logan screamed in her head, frightening Laura.  It was a scream of pain.  Before she could stop, his voice invaded her mind. 
YOU’RE… AAHHH!!... DOING IT!

Laura pushed the cluster closer together, tighter, tighter.  Logan’s screams continued in her head.  She braced herself and kept going.  She was determined the see an end to the elders, but Logan’s screams frightened her.  Yet, what she had started could not be stopped.

The stars were spinning quickly now, blurring into a single streaking light.  “Logan, you have jump!” Laura screamed.

TOO EARLY! AAHHHH!

His bellows of pain continued.  Laura did not know if he was going to make it.  The movement of the stars became more violent.  Laura couldn’t control it anymore.  The stars spun rapidly, and were quickly progressing to the middle.  It was out of her hands.

Something dark shot out of the spinning stars and flew into the void like a bullet.  A heartbeat later a second object was spat out the same way.  And then a third, a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth.  Laura couldn’t say why, but she was sure those were the representations of Alexander, of Madison, and of the four angels.  Relief filled her.  They had gotten out.

Logan was still in there, though.  His screams burned through her head, threatening to overtake her in their terror.  If it were anybody else, Laura would have severed the connection long ago.  But this was Logan.

The darkness pressed in on the stars, pushing them toward the apex.  They were almost there.  If Logan didn’t jump now, Laura did not know if he would make it.