Endure (5 page)

The pain was gone and I stood on something solid. Shadows surrounded me and I seemed to be standing on the darkness. I could feel Rayna’s essence revolving around me, and although I couldn’t hear her voice, I felt her thoughts. She reached out into the blackness, calling forth a power unlike any other. She channeled my energy and summoned forth those awaiting the Protector. We moved forward in the shadows and a light grew in the distance. With each step we took, a new world unfolded.

Blue skies and white clouds moved swiftly through the air. The smell of freshly cut grass lingered, and a river ran alongside me. Water rippled tranquilly over heavy stones and the sound soothed my soul.

Rayna stood beside me, a white glow emanating off her skin. She reached toward me but as her hand touched mine, it passed right through.
“Come,”
she thought, her lips weren’t moving and the sound was only in my mind.
“We are not souls within the Fade, so you can only hear my thoughts. Follow me, the entrance to the Fade is this way.”

The end of the river opened up into a large pool surrounded by moss-covered cliffs that reached into the sky. On top of the cliff stood a forest of untouched trees and shrubs, and a small waterfall drifted over the edge, splashing into the pool. Rayna stopped at the edge of the pool and in the center of the clear water, beneath the surface, churned an abyss of liquid shadows. Her power pulsed toward the circle of darkness in branches of red.

“Call your elements all at once and focus only on the gods. You cannot enter the Fade so together we must guide them to us.”

I stared at the water and tried to do what she said. I called my elements forward, but as I did, there was only one thing on my mind, and as much as I tried to focus on being the Protector, I couldn’t.

“No, we don’t have time for this,”
Rayna warned, but I couldn’t stop.

A white light began to blink deep within the pool, growing larger as it neared the surface. Before long, the entire dark mass beneath the water was gone, consumed by the light. But as quickly as it came, the light blinked away and the blackness took over.

The sound of the water and forest vanished, and silence plugged my ears. I looked around and his face made my heart stop. It was him. On the other side stood my friend Willy. His hair was messy and his shirt had a sauce stain on it. His eyes stared into mine. The discomfort and fear I’d seen in his face so many times were gone. His hands were deep in his jean pockets and he looked serene.

“Chase, you can’t do this now. Your body is breaking apart!”

I looked back at Rayna, her eyes pleaded with me to stop, but I had to go. I had to talk to him. I tried to walk toward him but a barrier formed around me. Rayna’s magic was holding me back.

“I need to talk to him!”

“There isn’t time, Chase. You’re dying!”
Rayna’s voice screamed in my head.

“You have to let me. Please, Rayna.”

“He’s gone, Chase, and if we waste any more time, you will be too.”

A sharp pain pierced my chest and I winced. A small stream of blood trickled down my chest, but there was no wound to be found.

“Chase…”

I wanted to reason with her, but I knew it would be no use. Another pain spliced down my arm and blood dripped off my fingertips. The bright drops stained the grass and a tingling sensation washed over my body.

“Okay.”
I moved back beside Rayna and stared down into the dark pool, fighting the urge to look back at him. Her voice guided me and I did as she said, but I regretted each moment of it as Willy watched from the far end of the river.

Each element rose inside my soul and magic danced along my arms, but they didn’t manifest. Instead, colored light spilled from my palms: orange, blue, green, white, and yellow moved in faded streams into the darkness below. Rayna’s power mingled with the elements—a red stream intertwining with my mine. Her power reached deeper into the Fade and called forth fallen powers. She beckoned them upward and pushed our magic deeper than I could go.

Strange vibrations rode the air in an act of authority. Rayna’s magic flexed, overtaking mine, and light exploded in the darkness. A kaleidoscope formed beneath the water and streams of colorful light twisted in the shadows. They were attracted to my power, but it was Rayna’s that guided them upward.

As the souls broke through the water, they didn’t take on human forms. Instead, they hovered over the surface, staring back at us, their power suffocating mine. An army of colorful orbs floated in front of me. Each had a distinct feel; a unique vibration of energy that moved around them and prickled along my arm. It was distracting and welcoming all at once, and I craved to have it closer. Everything now existed in a boundary of Rayna’s magic, but I could hear their thoughts rushing through me.

“Who is this?”

“Now we can finally leave this place.”

“Could it be?”

“The Protector needs us.”

“Has he finally arrived?”

“Ithreal’s war is still raging from the other side. We must unite.”

“Release me from this hell!”

“Kill him! He is not enough to save us all.”

I tried to answer their thoughts with my own, but Rayna overpowered me.
“I have called you forth,”
she thought.
“And you’ve been drawn toward the Protector’s essence. The time has come to unite your power with his.”

More thoughts from the auras fluttered through me, but there were too many coming all at once. Rayna’s magic drew them forward with articulated command, and the spirits began to merge together. Like a spiral of color they wavered in the air, creating vibrant lines of energy that carried weight and emotion: anger, happiness, regret, sadness, excitement, and more swirled around me. One at a time the spirits crashed into me. As each essence impacted my body, my elements swelled. With Rayna’s guidance they entered me with ease. I had become an inlet for the power of fallen gods, and their ancient magic flared inside me adding to my own. Flashes of knowledge and memories of worlds that were no longer moved through my mind, but they vanished as they hit me. I tried to recall them, but they faded as quickly as they came. A final blast of energy hit me and the world exploded in a blinding firework. I felt the Fade morphing and moving away from me and I couldn’t help but scream.
“No, I’m not ready. Willy!”

A puddle of cold blood had pooled around me on the floor. I stared up at the whirlpool above me. My body had become numb and covered in open wounds. My heart vibrated in my chest and I didn’t think I could move.

Colorful spheres were consumed by the funnel and drawn into me. My body jerked violently as the final souls entered my body and then it was over. The candles sucked the flames back against their wicks and like a rope being unraveled, the whirlpool was torn apart into streams of flame that vanished into melted stems. A loud pop sounded on the air and the magic vanished. Each candle extinguished itself, leaving colorful drifts of smoke to rise up to the ceiling. Rayna’s power withdrew, and the pressure of my body against the floor lifted. A pulsating sensation pressed against my body and I took in a gasping breath. Warm air slipped through my lips and my chest heaved up and down. My heart was a drum inside my ears, pounding hard enough I felt it smash against my ribcage.

On the outer edge of the circle, Marcus, Tiki, and Rayna stared at me, but I couldn’t move. My veins bulged and power flooded through them, coursing through my body. I could feel it coasting behind my eyes, dancing along my lips, and flickering between my fingers.

Marcus’s and Tiki’s mouths were moving, but I couldn’t hear their words, a high-pitched ringing drowned them out. Rayna knelt beside me and with one hand on my chest, the other ran down my face.

“…hear me, Chase?” she asked as the ringing began to subside.

I shook my head as a crowd of voices shouted in my head. The sound cut like a knife through butter, slicing through my skull. I rolled over and pulled my knees into my stomach, trying to make myself as small as possible. I felt queasy and bile rose in my throat. The voices didn’t stop. They were needles in my head and I cupped my ears and screamed. “Shut up!”

Rayna jumped back, knocking over some of the smoking candles and stumbled into Marcus. Pain simmered over my head and with long steady breaths, the voices faded. The floor creaked as I rocked backed and forth. It was the only sound in the room. I could feel everyone’s eyes beating down on me and my heart thudded in my chest.

“Chase?” Rayna whispered. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said, and when I realized I was shouting, I shook my head. “I’m okay…I think.” I shifted my weight and fell back on the floor, wrapping my arms around my legs. As I moved, I realized the pain that had enveloped my body was gone. It took a few moments to clear my head. The world shifted around me, going in and out of focus. I focused on a single knot in the wooden floorboards until I felt my equilibrium stabilize.

Nobody moved as I unwrapped bandages from my arms. There were no wounds or scars, only a vibration moving over my skin. The elements that had been buzzing inside me had faded. Although I could feel their power, they were dormant, waiting to be beckoned. But there was a discomfort looming within that had nothing to do with my magic. Foreign entities roamed inside, making my body their home. They had entered me but hadn’t merged with my soul. They were very much alive and separate. If I focused, I could hear an army of thoughts stampeding through my mind. The moment I did, the ringing came back in full force and I winced, covering my ears as voices shrieked.

“Chase,” Rayna’s voice broke through the noise.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to pull away
form
the souls, shifting my focus to the water stains on the floor. The sound faded and I shook away the remnants.

“I’m fine, it’s just…weird in here right now.”

“In where?”

Marcus and Rayna both crouched in front of me and I recomposed myself. “In my head.” They stared back without a word and I paused, taking a moment to ensure the voices stayed away. A lump sat in my throat that hurt when I swallowed, but I did my best to ignore it.

“I thought I’d just get their power, but I got them too. They’re inside me, moving around. If I focus, I can hear their thoughts…and their screams. There’s so many of them. Some angry, others sad; the rest are jumbled together.”

“You need to stay away from that. Do
not
converse with them,” Rayna said.

“What happens if he does?” Marcus asked.

“We’re on a timeline now. Chase isn’t fixed; this is just a Band-Aid on the wound. There are pieces of all the fallen gods inside him. We can’t be sure what pieces of them fell into the Fade, but we can be certain they have their own agendas. If we don’t bind all the souls to his, eventually one of the gods could take over.”

“Are you saying we could lose Chase to a higher power?”

Rayna nodded. “And even then there’s a chance he’ll…” Rayna looked at me and lowered her eyes.

“Die,” I said in a whisper.

“That’s not going to happen,” Marcus said.

There was a
thud
and Riddley’s body had fallen over on the floor. Marcus ran over and placed two fingers against Riddley’s neck. Focus was engraved on his face.

“He’s okay. Tiki, can you help Riddley upstairs? He’s going to need to rest.”

Tiki slid Riddley’s arm around his neck and together they conquered the stairs.

“Rayna, you should get some rest too.”

“Forget it. I’m not leaving Chase.”

Marcus sighed. “You look exhausted, Chase. How are you feeling?”

“I’m…okay,” I said. I pushed myself up to my feet and blotches of black swarmed around me.

Marcus gripped my arm and steadied me. “Really?”

“No.” We stared silently at one another for a long time before I fell against his chest. Exhaustion dragged me down and I felt overwhelmed with emotion. “He
killed
them, Marcus. “First mom, then Willy…someone has to stop him.”

Marcus wrapped his arms around me and I didn’t fight it. “We will. I promise you, we will.”

I stayed in Marcus’s arms until I felt ready to stand on my own. There were no tears left inside me, just an overabundance of sadness. I had cried all I could, and sleep was inevitable.

“We’re running on fumes. There are some cots upstairs we brought from the warehouse. You two go get some rest.”

My legs were shaky and my balance was off. The souls felt like physical objects fluttering inside me. It brought a whole new meaning to butterflies in my stomach. Rayna wrapped her fingers around mine and guided me up the stairs. Sunlight burst through a small circular window and bits of dust floated in the stream. There were four closed doors along the hallway and one that remained open. Inside were a few empty cots opened across the floor.

“Do you want to talk about what happened in there? With Willy?”

What was there to say? He had been right there. I could’ve talked to him. I could’ve said I was sorry, but once again there wasn’t time. I shrugged my shoulders, my balance slowly restoring itself.