Shadowhunter (Nephilim Quest Book 1) (40 page)

Ambrogio tried to see the chasm from which the vapors of the decomposing Python were supposed to rise, but he only saw a limestone floor.
 
Maybe they had covered the chasm with a floor of stone... under the tripod on which the Pythia was sitting was an incense burner and she was enveloped by the thick veils of smoke that emanated from it. This was the breath of Apollo, which entered into the Pythia and came out through her mouth as divine words.
 

They were not allowed to approach Pythia too closely, and only one could come and ask their question at a time. She sat on her tripod, staring into the bowl of water with glazed eyes. Her head began to bob.
 

Ambrogio had the honor of having the first turn. He observed the Pythia from a distance, from the entrance of the adyton - no one was allowed to come too close. The Pythia was no longer young, even though she wore the dress of a maiden. He had heard she was chosen from among the families of Delphi and, once selected, could no longer have a normal family life. She dedicated herself to be the vessel through which the god Apollo spoke directly, and lived a chaste life, taking great care of her purity. If she had been married and had children, she was to leave that life behind.

Ambrogio had been told that he should ask Pythia a question that had two options. So he had written down his question. "Should I return to my home and become a merchant like my father, or should I leave ordinary life behind me and seek for my happiness elsewhere?"
 

Ambrogio had been told he might not understand a word of what Pythia said, and that priests would interpret her words for him later. After this he was to think about the answer on his own, because only he could know the truth. This is why "Know thyself" was written on the entrance of the temple – if you did not know your own mind, you could not understand the cryptic answer.
 

But it was not so. The Pythia sat in a hunched position, listening to the question the priest quietly read to her, her face near the water. Suddenly she declared loudly in a clear and ringing voice:

"The curse. The moon. The blood will run."

Nothing more. Ambrogio was led out of the temple repeating these ominous words.

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

52. The Change

There was a silent ring of people standing in the hallway in front of the gate. Lilith pushed them aside to get past, and the rest of us followed through the opening she had made.

Daniel was standing, his magnificent blue wings spread, holding a frightened-looking middle aged man in a tight grip by the arm. Next to the man crouched a dog-like shadow, its movements reflecting the nervous twitching of its master. Still, it seemed to have a will of its own, and tried to move away, whilst the man did not try to escape.
 

On the floor lay a dark-haired Nephilim, whose features resembled those of Daniel's. This had to be Elijah.

He lay there with open wings and closed eyes, fighting for his breath. The rasping sound of his labored breathing echoed from the walls. And his wings... they were torn into horrible shreds. Originally they seemed to have been bluish, but the shreds were turning darker as we watched. They shivered and crumpled as Elijah tried to breathe, and a pool of blood spread slowly across the tiles.

"Oh no!" Lilith gasped. "Who did this?"

"A Nephilim fighter was in the Immortal City and followed us. He caught us before we could reach any higher planes. We had to fight the man's shadow and that slowed us down, giving the Nephilim time to reach us."

Lilith knelt by the young man. Despite the horror I felt, I did not freeze. Instead my legs had a will of their own and took me right next to him.

The young man opened his eyes, and they were cloudy with shock. For a second they locked into mine, even though I could not be certain he actually saw me, and I felt a sudden wave of deep compassion flow through me. The depth of the emotion made me sway.

"Take the man to safekeeping," Lilith ordered, not diverting her gaze from Elijah.

Several Guardians stepped in to surround the shadow and the man standing in Daniel's grip. Daniel cut the cord between the shadow and its master in one inexorable and deft motion, and the shadow fell into a shivering heap on the floor.
 
The man was left gasping for air as if someone had hit him in the stomach. People drew back, not wanting to touch the remains of the shadow as it crawled aimlessly and pitifully along the floor. Soon it stopped moving and turned into a pile of grey dust like a deflated balloon. The Guardians led the man away, and he did not try to fight.

Daniel had eyes only for his brother, and he too knelt on the floor.

"Was - is - he bitten?" Lilith asked, not daring to touch Elijah.

"I fear so, but I do not know. There will have to be blood tests," Daniel said. "They clashed wings in the most vicious fight I'd ever witnessed, whilst Elijah tried to give me a chance to escape with our prisoner. I hope he managed to protect himself."

He extended his wings and carefully slid them under Elijah's limp body. With the help of his wings and strong arms he gently lifted Elijah off the floor and headed towards the sick ward. Lilith and I followed. Reggie and Grandma were nowhere to be seen. Elijah wailed in a thin voice, barely conscious.

All the way to the ward big drops of blood fell on the floor. They were red, but had an odd glittering shimmer to them. The remnants of Elijah's wings trailed along the floor in Daniel's wake.

I could not watch that. I stepped closer, bent, and carefully lifted the shreds so that I ended up holding them in my arms as if I was carrying the train of a wedding dress. The shreds gave me slight electric shocks, and were slippery with blood. Only then did I realize I might have put myself in danger. I tried to remember if I had any scratches in my arms so that Elijah's blood might get into my bloodstream. But no, I did not remember having any cuts in my skin.

Elijah screamed when I touched his wings and Daniel looked over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" he asked, but did not slow down.

"His wings... I'm afraid bits will fall off..."

Daniel did not say anything, but now we had already reached the ward. The word had spread, and there was a whole medical team waiting.

Daniel carefully lowered Elijah onto the bed so that he lay on his back. The bed was T-shaped, and when they spread out Elijah's wings I understood, why. Both wings could be stretched out and treated at the same time as his body.

We moved aside to the wall and watched them do whatever they could for Elijah. They cut off his clothes, and saw deep marks in his body, as though someone had burned him with a hot blade. I could see scorched tissue, and deep cuts.

I understood that if the other Nephilim had managed to spit into those wounds, or had caused them by biting, Elijah would be infected.

There were four doctors. Two worked on his body, and two on his wings.

It is an amazing sight - to see how the angel wings were treated. The wings were transparent, but not immaterial. The shreds were carefully straightened to their proper place. The darkened edges were then handled with some kind of liquid that shone bright yellow – it reminded me of honey. It seemed to glue the bits back together.

Then they had to turn Elijah around to treat his back. Daniel stepped in to help, and with the help of his strong wings they managed to keep Elijah's wings supported as they spread them out widely during the process. Despite all their efforts Elijah screamed with pain. His voice hurt my whole body, and I felt it like a stabbing pain in my bones.

A little sob broke out of me when I saw his back. I couldn't help it. I could literally see his ribs, the cuts were so extensive. I had to put my hand over my mouth; the sight made me want to vomit.

Daniel stepped closer, and to my surprise he put his arm around my shoulders and drew me to him. I felt my skin prickling at his touch. Against his steady hand I noticed I was shaking.

What surprised me even more, came as a shock almost, was the realisation that I had grown in height since I had last met Daniel. Before, my head was at the level of his shoulder, but now I reached his cheek.

"Will he... die?" I managed to form the difficult word.

"It could be. I have never seen a Nephilim this badly injured," Daniel said with a thick voice. "When the results of the blood test come, we'll know whether ... he'll even be allowed to live..."

I had no words. Daniel's answer confirmed what I had already suspected - Elijah was one of those who could travel between the buffer zone and our world on his own. All I could do was to squeeze Daniel's hand on my shoulder, and he turned his head and met my eyes. I saw tears in his.

"Oh, Daniel!" I turned to face him and hugged him before I even knew I was doing it, "I am so sorry!"

He wrapped his arms around me, making my heart sing even in the midst of all the horror. We stood locked like that for a while. I could have stayed like that forever, but I understood this was not the right time. This was not about me. No matter how I felt for him, this was not the place to tell Daniel about my emotions. So it was I who let go first, and we continued watching the doctors working on Elijah.

Elijah was a sorry sight, when they were done. His whole body was covered in huge cuts and quickly emerging bruises. His skin had been stitched together with hundreds of sutures. His wings lay by his sides; the torn edges glued together, dark patches dimming their usual glow. They had tried to take away his necklace, a scarab, but he had been conscious enough to stop them. It was wiped clean from blood and now lay against his chest.

He was wrapped in bandages, and an iv-drip kept on feeding his body with the odd yellow, glowing liquid they had used on his wings. He was so pale I wondered if there was enough blood left in his body to keep him alive.

They could not cover him with blankets, as they would have pressed on his wounds. Instead they raised the temperature of the room.

"Go now," one of the doctors, a middle aged woman, said to Daniel, "there is nothing you can do here. Elijah needs to rest."

"I'm going nowhere," Daniel said in a voice that accepted no objections, and the doctor let us be.

"The test results will take a day to be ready," was all she said, "then we'll know."

I could not leave either. I stood there with Daniel, feeling the room become more comfortable by the minute. It took me a while to understand it was because of the quickly rising room temperature, which matched my own body temperature.

One of the doctors stayed with Elijah. He sat in an observation room with a big window onto the treatment room. He was keeping an eye on the monitors there.

Daniel pulled up a chair for me, then one for himself. We sat side by side, our eyes on the still unconscious Elijah. I had never been religious, but now I prayed. Whatever higher force there was, surely it would want to save an angel?

I could not face the thought that Elijah might be infected and would have to be killed. I had a very good idea who would have to do the killing. Could there be anything worse than being forced to kill one's own sibling?

There were no windows in the room, but I felt the day turning old, and eventually night came. The clock on the wall measured time, silently. Daniel never withdrew his wings - he seemed to be on alert all the time.

I began to feel very odd around midnight - as if a swarm of bees buzzed in my body. I had to get to my feet. As I did, a spasm of pain ripped my back.

"Oh!"
 

No matter how I tried, I could not keep silent.

"What is it?" Daniel asked quietly.

"Pain...!" I bit my lip. This was not the place to complain about my own aches.

"Where?"

"My back! OH!" now the pain left me no option to stay silent - I screamed when it stabbed me with such a force my legs gave way and I fell on the floor.

Hurried steps. Daniel lifted me from the floor, I noticed the doctor behind him.

"Is it happening now?" he asked Daniel.

"Has to be - but it should not be happening yet! This is too soon, neither her body of her mind are prepared!" Daniel said with concern in his voice.

I was paralyzed. Suddenly I was a prisoner inside my immobile body. I felt nothing but terrible pain, as if an invisible knife carved my back, but I could not even scream anymore. Only my eyes could move.

"Put her on the bed, on her right side, it is easier on her heart," Daniel's voice commanded.

They did. I was staring at Elijah on his bed. Then Daniel was sitting next to me.

"Shhh... try to calm down," he said when he saw the panic in my eyes, "The paralysis will last some time, maybe a day or two, but it will pass. And you will be taken care of while it lasts."

He stroked my cheek gently, and I locked into his eyes, desperately searching for relief, but none came.

I don't know if you have ever been gripped by extreme and constant pain, and I hope you never will. It stops time, leaving you in an unbelievable bubble of existence that is straight from hell. There is no pause from the agony, just searing, constant never-ending pain. You would do anything to make it stop. You would kill yourself. You would hope your heart would stop beating, because every beat is thundering through your body, multiplying the pain as blood rushes through your veins.

But I could not kill myself. I could not move. All I could do to try and stay sane was to look at something. So I looked at Elijah, and I looked at Daniel.

Before sunrise Daniel fell asleep in his chair, despite trying to stay awake. I could hear Elijah's labored breathing. The doctor behind the glass wall was looking at a computer screen, clearly forcing himself to stay awake.

I heard a loud crack. It must have been in my mind, because Daniel did not wake up. It felt like I had been cracked open vertically, from my toes to the top of my head.

And then, suddenly, the pain was gone. I took one huge, careful breath, afraid to move lest it came back. It didn't.

I felt an odd sensation on and in my back and turned my head. Nothing there. Then I realized I had moved. The paralysis was gone.