Phoebe Wren and the Vortex of Light (25 page)

Craven, Malva, Krake and a myriad of other demonic beings had infested the aircraft and were crawling along its length so that the entire body of the plane seemed to writhe and pulsate. Cosain gasped and clenched his fist around his sword as he prepared for impact – this would not be pretty. Behind him, the loyal warriors were closing the gap between themselves and Araco Airlines flight 454. They could see their already Captain in the thick of battle, selflessly facing his foes and sending numerous snarling fiends tumbling and cart wheeling to the Abyss. What Cosain could not see from the middle of the fray was Schnither’s dismembered frame disappearing from within the demonic ranks and sliding towards the aeroplane’s undercarriage which housed the fuel lines. The seven approaching angelic warriors could see it all unfold from their vantage point – but were powerless to intervene. They flew with all their might, travelling so fast that they could not have been detected by even the most sophisticated radar equipment, and arrived with the aircraft just on time to witness Schnither sink his three rows of shark-like teeth and his razor sharp talons into the fuel lines, which lay exposed and vulnerable where he had ripped a section from the fuselage. As the aviation fuel flowed freely through the irreparable pipes, Schnither looked up from his dastardly mission and locked eyes with the angelic warriors. He snarled a leery smile at them, fuel flowing from his hacked lips like blood, then his warped grin turned into hoots and shrieks of delight as Araco Airlines flight 454 lurched forward with its nose earthward and began to fall from the sky with Schnither swinging from the fuselage like a deranged rodeo rider.

This was a sight that several of the Heavenly Host had witnessed before, and as Cosain, Solas, Dilis, Trean, Neam and Croga looked on in disbelieving horror, each felt that he was trapped in a nightmare from which there seemed to be no waking.

On board Araco Airlines flight 454, an unexpected and violent second bout of ‘turbulence’ caught passengers and cabin crew alike off guard. As the plane dipped into an earthward dive, flight attendants were knocked off their feet and tumbled and rolled towards the cockpit, screaming in terror despite their best intentions to remain calm and professional at all times. Those passengers who had loosed their seat belts were now flung forward against the seat in front of them, and there arose an instantaneous cacophony of voices wailing and screaming and begging for help that went unheard by all but those on board.

Phoebe and Demetrius, Jack and Eva had been settled in their seats with their seatbelts securely fastened when the upheaval commenced, but even they found themselves lunging forward with the violent movement of the plane.

“
Passengers…
”

The pilot’s voice sounded relatively calm, but Phoebe could detect the rising panic he was trying so desperately to disguise.

“Please remain
calm
. Return to your seats and fasten your seat belts immediately. We are experiencing some, uh, technical difficulties and, uh, may need to perform an emergency landing.”

The words ‘
emergency landing
’ only served to send already terrified passengers into a frenzy, and far from remaining calm people were screaming and crying and searching for cell phones, presumably to make their final calls home.

Outside the plane, Phoebe could now see the full ferocity of the battle that raged. Its beginnings had gone unnoticed and Phoebe could only assume that Schnither and his henchmen had somehow distracted Cosain and the Heavenly Host before stealthily launching this devastating attack. She could see Cosain, Solas, Dilis, Trean, Neam and Croga battling valiantly against a multitude of black demons who were snarling and gnashing their teeth, and swinging their jagged swords with aplomb. Even in the midst of the chaos, Phoebe noticed Lasair’s absence, and momentarily wondered where he could be, although her thoughts returned very quickly to the upheaval inside the stricken aircraft. Phoebe noticed too that her angelic friends had been joined by several other angelic warriors, equally imposing and obviously entirely engaged in the fray, and their presence served to somehow comfort her and instilled an illogical hope, even in the midst of the horror unfolding around her.

She turned towards Demetrius; this was his first journey on an aeroplane and it was certainly not the straightforward, safe experience either of them had hoped for. Demetrius’s eyes were squeezed shut in fright and his lips moved furiously in unspoken prayer. Phoebe prised the fingers of his right hand off the arm rest of his seat and held tightly to his hand, although she could not be certain whether this was to reassure him or herself. Demetrius opened his eyes and looked at Phoebe. To her surprise she found not fear but faith shining from his brown eyes, and the calm trust that her friend seemed to possess slowly flowed over and around her as though it were being transferred from his fingers into hers. Phoebe found herself physically relaxing – her jaw unclenched, her shoulders dropped from where they had been caught up just below her ears, and she breathed out a long breath as if to expel all fear and panic.

“All is well, Bird,” smiled Demetrius. “All
will
be well. Believe it.”

Despite the obvious contradictions around her, somehow Phoebe did not doubt Demetrius’s words, and she gripped his hand tighter as they observed the battle outside with a sense of surrealism. Cosain and his troop were locked in mortal combat with Schnither and his fiends and neither side showed any signs of surrendering. All the while, Araco Airlines flight 454 continued to fall from the skies. Phoebe was aware of the confusion and noise surrounding her yet she felt as if she was caught in a moment all her own, where everyone and everything else was moving in slow motion.

“
Passengers! Assume brace position!
”

The pilot’s voice boomed suddenly over the tannoy, snapping Phoebe from her reverie. Time resumed its regular pace, and all around passengers were crying and yelling, holding tightly to loved ones and preparing as best they could for what now seemed to be the inevitable. Phoebe glanced out of the small window beside her and gasped as she saw the green earth below hurtling up to meet the plane at a fantastic speed. There was no sign of the Heavenly Host or the dark enemy hordes, and Phoebe craned her neck to peer out of the top of the rounded window. There, far above the doomed aircraft, Phoebe could see the ethereal glow of the angelic warriors swooping and soaring while the dark pulsating mass of the enemy surged and heaved like a putrid black lung. She could not comprehend why Cosain would allow his warriors to be so consumed by their battle with the Enemy that he would allow the aeroplane to just fall from the sky, yet it appeared that that was exactly what was about to transpire.

Suddenly, Demetrius yelled her name. “Phoebe! Look! Quickly, we need to go!”

Phoebe ran her eyes along the aisle of the plane towards the cockpit, and there, just in front of the locked door that separated the pilots from the passengers, was a glowing golden circle of light which was swirling and growing before her eyes.

“Demetrius!” Phoebe cried. “It’s the vortex of light! Come on, we’ve got to get into it –
now!
”

The teenagers unclipped their seatbelts and all but fell from their seats. Demetrius caught hold of Phoebe’s hand and together they stumbled forward along the tilted aisle of the stricken plane. Ordinarily under such circumstances, cabin crew would have ordered them back to their seats without hesitation, but now no-one seemed to even notice as the pair half ran, half fell towards the radiating portal. Somewhere in her subconscious, Phoebe was aware that she and Demetrius were the only two who could see this ever expanding vortex of light, and that old familiar sense of déjà vu swept over her. Phoebe hesitated, only momentarily, but it was enough for Demetrius to tug sharply on her hand and urge her, “Come on Phoebe! We’re almost there!” Phoebe looked back at their empty seats, and at her parents who were oblivious to her departure and were huddled together, holding hands. At the last moment, Jack looked across to where his daughter had been sitting, and when he saw her seat was empty he searched frantically until he saw Phoebe and Demetrius standing at the forward section of the aeroplane. His eyes locked with Phoebe’s, only briefly, but it was enough to make her want to forget about the portal and the redemption it promised and run back to her Daddy’s arms.

“I can’t, Dem,” Phoebe whispered. “I can’t leave them again…”

“You won’t have to Phoebe. Trust me.
Trust me.
” Demetrius looked her square in the face, inviting her to believe that he had faith for what she did not. Phoebe nodded at her friend, and together they stepped into the vortex of light and were instantly swallowed up in its warmth and golden glow.

Behind them, the beam of ethereal light snapped shut, leaving a stricken plane, terrified passengers and a mortal battle in the Heavenlies in its wake.

A wayward ray of weak summer sunshine broke through the pink striped curtains in Phoebe Wren’s bedroom and sparkled over the sleeping girl’s forehead. Phoebe slowly opened her eyes, blinked several times, then rubbed her eyes and sat up. What? Where was she? She looked around the room, still sleepy and very confused. Memories of Cosain and the angelic warriors wrangling with the evil hordes of hell began to creep into her head, and she furrowed her brow as she recalled Araco Airlines flight 454 tumbling and diving out of the sky. So, how had this happened? Was she dreaming? Was she
dead?
Or had the angels and demons and aeroplane crashes
all
been one big bad dream? Phoebe gradually became aware of the sound of several voices happily chattering not too far from her room, and it slowly began to dawn on her that she was… No! How could it be? She was
home
.

Phoebe sprang clumsily out of bed in a flurry of disbelief and adrenaline, and slid her feet into the fluffy slippers, which were neatly placed at the end of her bed. She bundled on a robe then pulled the bedroom door open and hesitated, barely daring to breathe as she strained her ears in an effort to distinguish the muffled voices which were teasing her from downstairs. She was unsure even what day it was, and was afraid to believe what she desperately hoped for. She was sure she could hear her parents’ voices and – no, wait…
Yes
, that was definitely Demetrius! Phoebe bolted downstairs, hopping down the steps two at a time, and burst through the kitchen door like an excitable kid at Christmas. There, right before her eyes, were Jack and Eva, Demetrius, Uncle John and Aunty Kate, and her little cousins Abi, Jamie and Caitlin, who Phoebe had only ever spoken to via Skype.

“
Phoebe!
”

The children squealed with delighted and bounced towards Phoebe, grabbing hold of her and almost knocking her off her feet. She laughed out loud at their vivaciousness and scooped them up en masse, her arms stretched out wide to include them all.

“Kids, one at a time!” Aunty Kate chided her excitable brood as she attempted to prise them off Phoebe so she could give her niece a massive cuddle too. “Phoebe,” she smiled. “It’s so great to see you! Oh my, how you’ve grown! Sorry – I keep forgetting you’re not a kid anymore!”

Phoebe’s Uncle John got up and kissed her cheek. “Welcome home kiddo,” he smiled as he ruffled her hair.

Phoebe was too stunned and overwhelmed to speak, and was glad of the hustle and bustle of the reunion which afforded her the time to gather her thoughts. She looked across at Demetrius, who winked at her and gave her the,
‘I’ll explain later’
look, then briefly placed his forefinger across his lips and shook his head in a
‘don’t put your foot in it’
warning. There were a million questions shooting around in Phoebe’s mind, bouncing off her brain, but for now she was content to know that she did not have the answers but apparently Demetrius could bring her up to speed later. Demetrius looked happy and entirely at home, and Phoebe was glad that it had not taken him long to settle in. She could not even begin to imagine what could possibly have happened in the interim since she and Demetrius had exited the flailing aeroplane. For now, all she knew for sure was that she was back home in Ireland, surrounded by the people she loved most – and whatever else may have happened, for now that was more than enough.