The Ancient Ones (The Legacy Trilogy Book 3) (71 page)

‘Can you not see it, Lomar?’ Samuel said, eyes still closed. ‘This is my power—my self—and now it surrounds this world. Everything within it is within my reach, to do with as I will. This is what I have been waiting for—all the pieces I needed to put this, my greatest spell, together and venture where we have never gone before.’

‘What are you doing?’ Lomar asked with disbelief.

‘Come to me!’ Samuel demanded of his evil. Blazing fire poured from his skin as the demons rallied.

The brilliant latticework of stars grew brighter. Everyone shielded their eyes, then, reaching a crescendo, the creeping threads completed their work, the blinding lines joined together.

A brilliant flash. Blackness.

The stars, the moon and the demon fire upon Samuel all vanished and the world was bereft of light.

****

At first, it seemed as if they had vanished from existence, but the wind still breathed in their ears, proving they were alive.

‘What has happened?’ Leopold asked, hearing his voice in the void.

‘Are we dead?’ asked another—Kali.

But then, as their eyes became used to the dark, the stars became visible once more high above.

‘We’re alive,’ Daneel whispered, easily audible in the silence.

They could see each other now, dimly in the starlight, as when they had first appeared upon the plain of glass.

‘The stars have changed,’ Kali declared, her chin pointed up as she browsed the heavens in wonder. ‘I have never seen these constellations before.’

‘The moon has disappeared,’ Jessicah whispered. It was true. The great white orb and its reflection were both missing.

‘No, it is where we left it,’ Samuel said and they saw the magician drag himself to his feet. The fire around him had also diminished to near darkness, burning faintly with its bluish hue.

‘Have you vanquished the demons?’ Jessicah asked, still kneeling over Captain Orrell.

‘No. They are merely startled. They don’t know where they are. Like you, they whisper to each other—unsure, anxious.’

‘How did you change the stars?’ Kali asked in wonder, gazing at the heavens. Her hands continued their pressure on the captain’s wounds.

‘The stars have not changed. It is our world that has moved.’

‘What do you mean?’ she questioned, looking at the magician with puzzlement.

‘I have moved us, and the entire planet with us. I have journeyed us far away from where we were. I have thrown us an unimaginable distance. We are now across the universe—hidden amongst the darkness where evil can never find us. More importantly, the demons within me can never find their way back to their home. I have broken the link to their realm—sealed it shut forever.’

‘How could it be?’ Lomar asked in awe. ‘How could you move a world?’

‘I have used every mote of my power,’ Samuel said. ‘It is all gone … the strength of a god. There is no magic left in me. Only this glass around us, once the body of a demon itself contains any shred of power, and that will quickly fade now the gate to its home is gone.’

‘But how—?’ Lomar began, before putting two and two together. ‘But you still have the demons within you,’ Leopold said, looking at the blue fire dripping from the man—the only source of light apart from the stars, like a blue-tinted campfire in their midst.

‘Yes,’ Samuel confirmed with a nod. ‘But their whispers have turned to screaming. They are now the ones who are afraid. They are trapped within me and they are alone. They do not know where they are, and they cannot return to their home. They have lost their doorway and have nowhere to retreat. They are lost in the darkness and shall soon be vanquished. But we must be quick.’

‘What do we do?’ Leopold asked.

‘You must kill me before they overwhelm me. They have nowhere to escape. In killing me, they will die also. We have won … almost. Unfortunately, all has not gone as I expected,’ Samuel admitted guiltily. ‘Our victory is not complete. We have one significant problem.’

‘What is it?’ Lomar asked with bewilderment.

‘There is no sun,’ Samuel revealed. ‘We did not reach the destination I intended. I was short of power by just a little. I thought leaving the moon behind might make up for it—a great sacrifice in itself—but it was still not enough.’

‘Was it because—’ Leopold commenced, glancing towards Kali, but the magician ignored him, talking over him.

‘It does not matter why, Leopold. It is done.’

‘Samuel,’ Lomar said, aghast. ‘You sent us here with no idea of what would be awaiting us? We are doomed!’

Samuel ignored the man’s ranting. ‘Ready your sword, Daneel. It is time. You must be swift. I have no more spells to protect me. I am defenceless. You can kill me easily enough.’

The night air had them shivering and the cold wind seemed to be growing stronger. A savage grumbling sounded from afar and the ground shook.

‘What is that?’ Daneel asked, holding his weapon readied, but unsure.

‘What is happening?’ Kali also asked with alarm.

‘The world is in peril,’ Lomar replied. ‘The change has been too much. The earth will tear itself apart. No sun! No moon! What have you done, Samuel? You have saved no one!’

‘What can we do, Samuel?’ Jessicah asked.

‘Nothing,’ he said with an abject shake of his head. ‘I—I have failed us.’

Vibrations ran through their feet. Immense rumblings echoed across the land as it voiced its discontent.

‘But at least the demons shall not have you,’ Samuel continued. ‘That is a victory in itself, and countless other worlds will be saved, never to be consumed by the demons we now destroy. I am sorry ... to all of you. I failed. You will not last much longer than I, but at least your souls shall be free. Your spirits will return safely to the Pattern, as they should. Daneel ... it is time.’

Daneel shifted his weight, preparing to strike, but Jessicah’s voice caused him to halt his nervous hand.

‘All is not lost, dear cousin,’ she said, with a rising hope. ‘I know what to do. I can save us.’

‘What do you mean?’ Samuel asked, labouring to speak as the fire grew steadily upon him.

‘I can save us,’ she repeated with excitement, still kneeling beside her loved one. ‘I have had this power inside of me all my life, but I never had the courage to face it. Now I know, and Rei opened my eyes to it. I can save us! I can do it!’

‘How can that be?’ Samuel asked.

‘Why ask such things, silly man?’ she said with a smile. ‘I can feel it inside me, as if this was what I was always intended to do. There is a light inside of me, and Rei unwittingly helped me to discover. It is a warmth, an energy, that sings with the strength of our world.’

‘It is not possible,’ the magician stammered.

‘Come, Samuel. I know you felt it. It has been in me all along, but you would not admit it. You always wanted me to be your loving cousin, not some heartless witch full of magic, but it is not the kind of magic you expected. It is not the magic forged by man, or granted by demons ... it is something else entirely: a gift. I want this. I need it, Samuel, to save us all.’

‘I—I,’ he faltered. There was no point in arguing. ‘You were always my goddess,’ he said, struggling to form a smile. ‘How ironic that it should turn out to be true. It seems to be providence or coincidence or destiny, but the world saw fit to place her faith in you, Jessicah. How could it be?’

‘I have no idea,’ she said simply, still smiling, ‘but I am very glad for it. The warmth inside of me has given me comfort all my life. I always felt sad for you, dear Samuel. I could feel the loneliness and darkness inside of you that I could not banish despite my best intentions. I did not know how ... until now. Now I know how to return the light. My own voice inside me tells me the way.’

Samuel tried to laugh, and choked upon it as it rose in his throat. ‘Salvation ...’ he gasped, then his joy turned to misery. ‘But why did it have to be you?’

‘It has always been me. I can feel my purpose at hand and I can barely contain myself. It is bubbling to the surface, as if this was always meant to be.’

‘But ... we need a sun!’ Samuel declared. ‘The cost is too great. It would cost you your life.’

‘I do not think I will die, Samuel. I will change into something else; something wonderful and beautiful, ever looking down upon the world. That is not death. It is the birth of a new life. I give myself willingly for such a fate. Most of all, it is the only way to save him.’

All eyes turned to Captain Orrell, lying before her.

‘You cannot save him, Jessicah. I can see the shadow enfolded around him. Death will take him, and then only crossing the Boundary can bring him back—but I no longer have the strength for that. Do you?’ he asked her, amazed as he considered the possibility.

‘Oh, Samuel,’ Jessicah returned, as if correcting a child. ‘Have you not realised yet? Our destinies are never set in stone. Do not let your demons dictate what should happen. Let me show you.’

She hugged her captain tightly to her, letting Leopold and Kali remove their bloodied hands.

‘Wh—what is happening?’ he asked, choking, unsure of his surroundings.

‘I need to ask you something, David ... my love. I must go away and I want you to come with me.’

‘Where will we go?’ he asked distantly, straining to see her through his fading vision.

‘Not far, but we will go together. To save everyone ... to save the world.’

‘Of course ... I would do anything,’ he stated wearily, ‘just to be with you, beautiful Jessicah.’

Weeping tears of joy, she looked back to her cousin. ‘Samuel, I can’t thank you enough for loving me. You can’t know how much it meant to me. All the while the witch possessed me, I felt your faith.’

The pained magician shook his head. ‘I should say the same to you.’

‘And I shall take this vile presence with me,’ she said, looking at the glass around them. ‘Its power is fading as you said, but the earth has long abhorred this scar of evil upon her skin.’

‘You must be quick,’ Samuel told her, shivering.

‘Then goodbye, everyone,’ she said. ‘Remember us.’

A halo of white light appeared around her, so that Leopold, Kali and Daneel had to step away. It was perfectly silent, utterly intense so they were forced to shield their eyes. Visible in its core, two shadows were standing, their hands joined; then, the two became one as they embraced.

‘The darkness,’ Samuel gasped with awe, staring towards the captain, ‘burned away by the light!’

But Jessicah did not hear him or else paid him no heed.

‘What do we do?’ the voice of Captain Orrell could be heard asking, now strong and free of pain, free of doubt.

‘Hold on to me,’ the voice of Jessicah replied.

‘Will it help us get there?’

‘No,’ she said. ‘It will make me feel wonderful.’

Deep in that intense brightness, the two silhouettes pushed tighter together. The light pushed in around them, tearing at their edges until the two lovers were gone. Then, the blinding ball diminished, fading away until nothing remained. Jessicah and David were gone.

The desert of glass shuddered and rumbled, fading into ordinary grey stone. The stars reflected upon the earth disappeared.

‘They’ve gone,’ Lomar said. ‘It is done.’

The scene was much darker after witnessing that blazing light, and they waited in the cold silence, with only Samuel’s laboured groans to break the silence.

Slowly, the mage-fire on his skin returned to illuminate the scene. The earth continued to rumble and shift. They saw the first of the fractures, running across the single great plate of stone that surrounded them with an ear piercing crack. Stone shifted, and more cracks ran like forks of lightning in every direction.

‘What’s happening?’ Daneel asked.

‘It’s getting worse,’ Kali said with alarm

‘But where is the sun?’ Leopold asked. ‘Surely something should have happened by now?’

Lomar said, ‘They would arrive at their destination in only a heartbeat, but where is their light?’

The ground continued to rupture and in the distance, a great wedge of stone scraped its way into the air, shunted skywards by the forces at play.

They struggled to remain on their feet as great chunks of stone broke free and were pressed into the air at angles. Time passed and the earth heaved and shook. Chunks of stone broke free and worked their way upwards, forming columns and plateaus across the plain. Other pieces the size of houses dropped away. All the water, previously sitting flat upon the glass, now ran and washed about, forming rivers and waterfalls, filling the newly formed cracks and crevices, dropping into the chasms. Still, no sun appeared.

‘She has failed,’ Samuel said, lost. They were high upon a wobbling spire of stone, looking out over the rest of the plain. ‘I can no longer feel her ... and there is no star to light us. Where have they gone? It is over. I have failed us all.’

He began to sob, and the mage-fire poured from him in great rivers, glowing inside him, illuminating his bones and growing brighter as the demons readied to burst free.

‘I miscalculated,’ he wept, still on his knees. ‘I’m sorry, Leopold. You have made your father proud. He is within me, and I know it to be true. He tried to warn me of my pride, but I did not listen. I thought I could save my son and the world, too. I thought I could save everyone.’

‘It doesn’t matter, Samuel,’ Leopold said. ‘You gave her back to me.’ He looked at Kali, puzzlement on her face. ‘That is all I could ask for.’

‘I am sorry, Your Majesty. I thought I had done everything as I should. I hope you can forgive me. You would have made a good emperor. I am proud of you, too, Leopold.’ He screamed with pain and the sound echoed back from the stone canyons and walls now built around them. ‘Daneel! Quickly! The time is now!’

Daneel hesitated, and the fire around the magician flared, engulfing him in a violent blue inferno, sheathed in purple tendrils of fire.

The one-eyed man stepped as close as he dare, turning his face from the searing fire that was Samuel, and thrust his blade deep into the magician’s heart. His job done he stepped back, leaving his sword embedded in Samuel’s chest, the fire too hot to retrieve it.