Angel Fall (15 page)

Below him was a breathtaking garden-world laced with rivers of liquid light. Dazzling waterfalls poured into shimmering streams that rushed through forests with trees so tall they were crowned with clouds. In them lived thousands of iridescent birds that soared into the air, then swooped and swirled like rushing rainbows. Laughing with joy, he tried to fly with them.

But then came more chanting and the vision changed.

He found himself above broad plains where millions of animals raced madly in gigantic herds for nothing more than the joy of running. Each species was a different tint and hue, some gaudy, others soft and gentle. They rushed toward each other, but instead of crashing, they converged and flowed, blending into chaotic torrents of rippling hide that surged, then parted, and raced on again. Alex had never seen anything so wonderful. He realized that he was flying above a masterpiece, the work of an Artist greater than any other in the universe who had turned a planet into a canvas and painted it with joy.

And then he saw cities built on mountains.

He had never seen beautiful cities before. In his world there was always darkness in them, slums next to skyscrapers, for every mansion a thousand hovels. But these shone like star-clusters draped across the mountain cliffs. Their buildings were of burnished stone, and in the sunlight, they glistened with soft fire. And the people of the cities—how beautiful they were. They walked the quiet streets without rushing desperation, without exhausted fear. They laughed and talked as though they had nothing better to do in all the world. Alex tried to fly down to join them. But when he got close, the vision disappeared.

Then, as though from far away, he heard the girl chanting.

Instantly he was back in the Cathedral. But no longer was it a place of horror. Gone were the darkness and the mold. The halls were filled with sunlight and laughing children. He followed as they raced from room to room and out the open doors to pick fruit in the gardens, then back to dance in the chapels and splash in the reflecting pools.

Finally the chanting drew him into the Great Sanctuary. Ten thousand voices were singing with such joy that he couldn’t hold back the tears. The massive doors were thrown open, and an endless river of people was flowing up from the valley. Families brought their children for blessing. The aged raised their hands in praise. Every inch of the gigantic room was filled with rejoicing. And all were reaching toward the amazing loveliness at the front. The painting towered above them, and out of it rushed the colors of heaven in a waterfall that sprayed glowing mist into the farthest corners of the room. The touch of the tiniest drop brought ecstasy. Walking among the people were the Beings that Alex had seen in the windows, but how differently they looked now; they were majestic, like gods, yet their eyes were soft with love. They reached out to everyone around them touching and blessing wherever they went.

Then he saw the girl.

She was seated in a corner, and hundreds of children were bringing her flowers. A baby was asleep in her arms. If he had thought that she was lovely before, her appearance now stunned him. Gone was the pallor of the Cathedral. Her face glowed with joy. Her hair seemed to glisten with starlight. And as she looked at him, he felt ravishing love. But then her face began to change. Slowly it transformed into the face in the moonlight and her chant was of sorrow and fear.

Once more he was flying above the garden-world. But now gigantic columns of smoke rose in the distance, spreading out like black rivers in the sky. The beautiful cities were burning, crushed into piles of red-hot stone. The streets were filled with death and horror. The mountains shook with thunder that seemed to come from beneath the ground. Across the plains loomed monsters, a spider with legs that uprooted trees, a bird that shrieked and made cities fall, a horse with wings of lightning that struck fire wherever he flew. And above them hovered a terrifying shadow that seemed to cover half the world. What it was, Alex couldn’t make out. But as it moved across the land, destruction spread beneath it. Burning stones dropped from the sky. The world that was a heaven was transformed into hell.

And then he found himself in the Cathedral. But now the doors were closed and the children gone. All that was left of them were painted pictures. He stared out a window and saw the spider weaving a shroud; as it pulled great strands from its body, the voices of the Cathedral sang anguish and doom.

After that came the most frightening vision of all.

Alex heard a hideous roar and something huge and covered with green flames streaked through the air down the hallway. From its wings and glowing body came a searing wind that charred his lungs and burned his flesh to scarlet. And from its mouth came a Song. With terrible, unknown words, it sang the desolation. When it was gone, fiery ashes settled. As they cooled, they turned into the mold that swirled in every crevice of the great building. When it touched the majestic “gods” of the Cathedral, they began to die. Their skin shriveled and cracked, and they dropped to the floor. He saw the lovely girl struggle up the steps to her bed, then fall face down and breathe her last.

After that he awoke.

It was night. The only light came from the red moon shining through the window. Standing at the foot of his bed was Melesh.

H
ow long have I been sick?” As Alex lay in the bed, he felt weak, but his mind was clear.

The girl replied, “Long enough.”

“What does that mean?”

She didn’t answer.

“I almost died. I saw horrible things.”

“The Master gave you the dreams so you would know who we are and how we got this way.”

“All of that really happened?”

She nodded.

Suddenly he was famished. “I’m starving. Is there any food?”

“Can you walk?”

“I…think so.”

He struggled to sit up, then to stand. Though his legs were wobbly, he managed to follow her out into the hall. Turning a corner, she led him down a narrow passage. As they walked, he stared at her. “In the dreams everything was beautiful—and then it was all destroyed. I saw monsters.”

“The Worwil.”

“The what?”

“The Worwil. The World Walkers.”

“Where did they come from?”

“They’re the brothers and sisters of our Master.”

“He’s one of
them
?”

“The greatest of them all. He was their king.”

“What happened?”

“Jealousy and hate. They became jealous of his beauty and the worship the people gave him.”

“That’s why they wrecked everything?”

“They wanted all of us to die. They trapped us here and tried to kill us. But in his power our Master found a way to keep us alive. When our flesh stopped breathing, he painted our spirits into glass and gave us forms to serve him.”

“So your body…isn’t real? It felt real.” The words came out before he could stop them and he was embarrassed.

“It’s just a shadow of what I was. We await the dawn when our flesh will live again. The ancient prophecies foretell that a warrior will come from another world, and if he is victorious our living death will end.”

“And you think that’s me?”

“You killed a World Walker. No one else could have done it.”

“But how the heck am I supposed to save you? I don’t know how to do that.”

“You’ll be told, but it needs to happen quickly. You’re one of us now. If your flesh dies before you free us, you’ll be here forever and all hope will be gone.”

“So, how long have I got before my body disintegrates?”

“You’re young and strong. Probably a week.”

“A week?” Alex was appalled. He grew enraged again. “You did this to me. The disease came from your mouth.”

“No, the kiss only joined our spirits so I could enter your mind. You started dying when you breathed our air.”

“That’s your fault too. You could have stopped me from coming in here but you didn’t.”

“There was no other way. The prophecy said you had to be one of us.”

“Why should I believe you? Maybe everything I saw was a lie.”

“Believe what you want, but you were shown the truth. Don’t you understand
anything
? Lies are evil. Evil is ugly. So if something is beautiful, it can’t be a lie, it
has
to be true.”

Alex was silent. What she said made sense, but a nagging doubt remained. Then for a moment he saw her the way she had been in the vision, a goddess with starlight in her hair and love in her eyes. A voice in his mind told him to stop being an idiot. Hadn’t he felt wonderful in the world they had shown him? Hadn’t it been so much like Heaven that he wanted to stay there forever? What more proof did he need? Before he could think about it anymore, a delicious odor wafted through the hall and all of his attention focused on his belly.

“
Food!
Oh, that smell, it’s fantastic. I’m so hungry.”

Turning a corner, they arrived at a set of ornate doors encrusted with filth. The girl pulled them open, revealing a majestic, moonlit dining room. Heavy chandeliers swathed with spider webs hung above a long gilt table. Around it sat a dozen chairs rotten with mildew. Though the room was grimy, Alex didn’t care. The smell of the food was so wonderful it made him weak. It was coming from a collection of platters arrayed on a large sideboard. Rushing over to them, he stopped and stared in surprise. Though steam rose from them, the platters were empty.

“Hey, what is this, some kind of trick?”

“What do you mean?”

“Where’s the food?”

“Right in front of you.”

“There’s no food here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. Do you think I’m blind? All there is is steam.”

“Look closer.”

He bent down. To his amazement, in the dim light, he saw that the platters were covered with exquisite
portraits
of food. A painted ham. A painted turkey with dressing. Painted prime rib with horseradish sauce.

“They’re just
pictures
. What am I supposed to do, lick ’em?”

“You
are
blind. But I have something that’ll help.” Opening a door in the sideboard, she pulled out a carafe filled with dark liquid. Then she poured some into a goblet and handed it to him.

“What’s this?”

“Sweet wine.”

“I hate wine.”

“If you want to eat, you’d better drink it.”

Alex brought it up to his nose. It smelled like chocolate. He took a sip. “It’s chocolate and cherry.” As he drank it down, a hot tingle filled his throat.

“Give me some more.”

“Eat first.”

Turning to the platters, he was shocked to see that now they were slopping over with food.

“What happened?”

“Just eat.”

He didn’t need another invitation. Grabbing a plate, he began heaping it with prime rib, country ham, turkey and dressing, and a giant mound of mashed potatoes ladled with thick gravy. On top of that he stacked hot rolls with large pads of butter. As an afterthought, around the edges he tucked in a helping of cranberry sauce. Then he sat down and began stuffing his mouth. With the first bite, the pleasure was so intense that he groaned. Bending close, he almost buried his face in the heaping plate, scooping in the food as fast as he could chew. Soon his cheeks were bulging like a giant squirrel.

When the plate was empty, he filled it again. This time he found platters of fried chicken, corn-on-the-cob, cheeseburgers, and four different kinds of pizza. When that plate had been sucked down, he filled the next with buttery lobster, cheese soufflé, and baked potatoes with sour cream and bacon. Again and again he went back. Soon there were platters of cakes, pies, and warm chocolate chip cookies along with bowls of ice cream and stacks of candy bars. But gradually Alex began to realize that there was something odd about this meal. Even after emptying a dozen platters, he wasn’t getting full, not even a little bit.

Finally Melesh said, “That’s enough. It’s time to go.”

“But I’m still hungry.”

“This food isn’t meant for that.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just meant to taste good.”

He stared at her. “What are you talking about? I chewed it and swallowed it. Did it vanish before it got to my stomach?”

“Our Master is such a great artist that he can paint from the hunger in your mind. Being full isn’t important. All that matters is the taste and how delicious it is.”

“But that’s
crazy
.” Alex looked at the platters. He had eaten enough for twenty people, but his stomach was still growling. “What good is the taste if you’re starving to death? I want real food, even if it’s just a hunk of bread.”

“We have nothing like that here. All we can give you is the pleasure of a memory.”

“So this was all
fake
?”

“It was a gift.” Her eyes flashed with anger. “You’re so selfish. You never think about anybody but yourself. Did you see
me
eat anything?”

“No.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“You don’t get hungry anymore.”

“You’re wrong.” Tears were in her eyes. “I die with hunger every minute.”

“So why didn’t you eat?”

“Because I can’t taste anything. All I can do is smell it. Do you know what I went through just watching you eat?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Forget it.” She wiped the tears away. Once more she poured a glass of the wine and handed it to him. “Drink this. It’ll help the hurt in your stomach for awhile.”

“What is this stuff?” He stared at the goblet.

“Don’t ask, just drink.”

He downed it. For some reason it didn’t taste as good as before, but it did dull the ache.

“We’ve got to hurry. The Master wants to see you.”

A chill passed through him. “About what?”

“Come on.” She headed toward the door.

“Hey, wait, what does he want?”

“Just come.”

Alex gulped. Suddenly he wasn’t thinking about hunger anymore. Getting up, he followed her out into the hall. As he left the dining room, he looked back. On the sideboard sat the serving platters, cold and empty.

Melesh walked fast. Still weak, Alex struggled to keep up.

“Look, what if I’m not who you think I am? I mean, what if I’m not this big warrior from outer space?”

“You’re the One, we know it.”

“Yeah, well, the problem is
I
don’t know it. And what if…I can’t do…whatever it is…he wants?”

In a cold voice she replied, “Here is what will happen if you fail. One evening you’ll wake up to agony worse than you’ve ever known. You’ll grovel and shriek in your bed until it feels like you’re tearing yourself to pieces. Then you’ll leave your flesh never to return. After that you’ll find out what hunger really is. You’ll remember everything you’ve ever wanted and want it more. Every desire will be like a burning wound. You’ll thirst with a fire that no water can quench, lust with a passion that no touch can fulfill, fear with a terror that no love can soften. Every beautiful thing you’ve ever known will become a desperate longing, and you’ll scream, trying to forget, because remembering will be such agony, but your mind will make you live it all again, every touch, every taste, every thought, every smell from your whole life, over and over. You’ll rage, and the rage will only make you remember and hunger more. You’ll weep tears enough to drown a world, but not enough to drown your memories. You’ll spend forever longing for the things that were…and might have been.”

“Is that the way…you are now?” Alex was stunned.

“Every second.”

“It sounds like…hell.”

“Don’t say that word.”
She screamed at him, trembling with rage.

“Okay. All right.”

Quickly she got control of herself. “Just remember, you must not fail.” A moment later they reached the door to his bedroom and stopped.

“What are we doing here?”

“I told you, the Master wants to see you.”

“He’s in
there
?”

“He’s everywhere.”

She opened the door and held it for him. But when he was inside, she didn’t follow. The door slammed shut.

“Hey!”

He tried to open it again but it was locked.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Suddenly strands of coldness touched his back and a shudder passed through his body.

Slowly he turned.

The
frame
.

Something was happening inside it.

It had changed from gray to black.

What Alex saw was a universe without stars, a living night. And as he watched, it began oozing like a cloud, out of the frame and down the wall. He tried to cry out, to run, but he couldn’t move. In horror he stared as the darkness crawled across the floor toward him, and he heard a soft singing voice, calling his name, whispering for him to come. The mist touched his shoes and moved up his legs. He felt himself rise into the air and begin drifting toward the glass. Though no sound came from his mouth, his mind shrieked with terror. Gradually his body turned until he was floating face down, and inch by inch he moved with excruciating slowness. With every inch the coldness grew. Finally, when the glass was only a foot away, it became unbearable. He closed his eyes. Then he felt the top of his head touch the freezing surface. It was so cold it felt like fire burning through his hair. But the glass didn’t hold him back. He began passing through it, entering whatever was beyond. He felt knife-edges of frost scrape down his head and shoulders until they reached his elbows.

Then he stopped.

His body hung with his torso half inside the frame and the rest of him suspended in the room. Opening his eyes, he
screamed!
He was hanging over the edge of a sheer cliff above an abyss that seemed to go down forever. The wall beneath him was of crystal and within it raged tongues of dark fire. They leaped toward him like living shadows, stopped only by the transparent barrier. Alex knew that if his whole body slid through the glass, he would fall and never stop. He was desperate to pull back inside, but he couldn’t move.

Deep in the abyss a form was rising toward him. Though he couldn’t make out what it was, he knew it was vast and covered with rippling light. Sweat poured down his face. More than anything he had to get away. Whatever was down there, he couldn’t bear to see it. He fought to break the glass. Better to be cut to pieces than to look at the thing rising out of the dark. But his efforts did no good.

Nearer.

His mind began to freeze and he stopped struggling. He was like a tiny animal chained in a trap, waiting to die in the jaws of a tiger. He tried to close his eyes, but his eyelids wouldn’t work.

Closer.

As the thing floated upward, Alex saw that the light was coming from ripples of flame, streaking back and forth, fading and congealing, across what appeared to be a smooth mountain of ice. He struggled to understand, but it was incomprehensible. Then slowly the form beneath the fire began to take shape. He was looking down onto the top of a gigantic head that was rising toward him. Behind the head, attached to the shoulders, were two huge appendages. Gradually he saw that they were
wings
, tightly closed, as though unable to move.

Yard by yard the monster came nearer. In a few moments its wings rose past him and then towered above. The top of its head was very close now and as he looked down at it, to his amazement he found that he could see straight into the skull. Its bones and skin were of glass and inside surged rivers of blood in ten million colors.