Illusion

  Illusion

  Book Three of the Rephaim Series

  C.L. Roman

  Copyright © 2015 Brass Rag Press

  Smashwords Edition

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 9781310948220

  Preface

  Many of the oldest stories have a great deal in common: fantastic beasts, shape-shifters, and named weapons, just to list a few. Nearly every culture has a story of the world’s beginning, and another of its ending, often in a sea of fire or some other cataclysmic manner. Christianity has its Armageddon, Islam its Day of Reckoning. Hindus believe in the eventual occurrence of Mahāpralaya, or the final dissolution, and Norse mythology anticipates the world’s fiery end in Ragnarök.

  The key point in all of these, is that evil is finally defeated, and in the process, the world ceases to exist. This may suggest that, once good achieves this victory, our purpose is complete. Or it may simply indicate our morbid fascination with the darkness that the fire reveals.

  Aurora Fischer PhD

  CHAPTER ONE

  A thin, black haze shadowed the horizon. Otherwise, the world looked more or less as it always had — temperate, idyllic — in short, like home. But there was something different just under the surface; an odor like dirty water over hot stone, that crawled along her senses and set them on edge.

  Gwyneth tried to shrug the feeling aside, but she knew there wasn't much time left. They had to find the children before... Her jaw tightened and she pushed the thought away. They would find them, but first she had to convince Jotun to take her with him. And convincing her husband of anything was a monumental task in and of itself.

  Figuring that being prepared was half the battle, Gwyneth had already filled two water skins and packed Jotun's bag with food and the means to prepare it. Reaching into a basket near the door she pulled out several packets of healing herbs.

  If the children are hurt, we'll need more than this.

  She grabbed several pots of healing unguents and wrapped them in soft, clean cloth. Deftly, she tucked them into her bag and stood, contemplating the contents of the shelf again, one arm crossed over her waist and the tip of her forefinger trapped between her teeth.

  Not as extensive as Danae's supply, she thought, but it will have to do.

  Next in went a change of clothes, and then, spying the small bundles on the shelf, she gave a soft exclamation and grabbed three rolls of bandages. Tossing them into the bag, she thought a moment, then added a fourth. She turned as a sound at the door notified her of her husband's presence.

  He was tall, even for an angel, and blond with cool, blue eyes and the physique of a demi-god. A light flush heated her pale cheeks as she looked at him and she wondered abstractedly how long this feeling would last. Almost a month married and her heart still danced when he looked at her.

  Ignoring the jump in her pulse, she pulled the drawstring tight, grabbed up a cloak and arranged the strap of the water skin across her chest before standing to face him square on. "I'm ready."

  He blinked. "Ready? What do you mean? Ready for what?"

  She sighed and set to work braiding her waist-length, red-gold curls. "Ready to go. I assume you'll want to leave right away." Finishing the braid, she hefted the bag in her hand, measuring its weight with a concerned look. "I hope I've thought of everything. Your pack is over there. I thought it best if you carry the food. I wasn't sure how long we'd be gone so I..."

  "You aren't going." Jotun stared at his wife.

  A resigned expression crossed her face and she stepped close to him, touched his face with a gentle palm. "Of course I am, dear. Don't be silly."

  "Silly," he huffed. "I'm not being silly. You don't take a female into battle."

  Gwyneth stepped back. "I'd like to hear you tell Adahna and Phaella that," she said.

  "Adahna and Phaella, strictly speaking, aren't women."

  "Really?"

  He grimaced. "You know what I mean." He crossed his arms and stood, legs braced, looking down his nose at her. "They aren't human, they are angels, trained warriors. Human women do not accompany their men into battle, do they?"

  "I don't know whether they do or not, since I've never been faced with a fighting situation before." She shrugged. "But in any case, I'm not just a human woman. I've angel blood in me and even if I didn't, I'd still be going with you."

  He threw up his hands. "Why? Why are you insisting on going?"

  She crossed her arms and tilted her head to one side. "How many children have you ever cared for?" His look of discomfort was its own answer. "And how many wounds have you treated?"

  He bristled. "I've dealt with injuries before. I know..."

  "Training injuries, yes. On angels. But you've only ever been in one actual battle, yes? And did you treat anyone's wounds, or had they healed before you got to them?"

  He didn't answer, but his mouth set in a stubborn line. She sighed again.

  "Jotun, you can fly off or shift without me. But I've heard Volot talking to Shahara about that village and I'll follow you. From what he said it isn't that far. A half hour's flight translates into what? A day's journey? Two? And then another two miles east?"

  He read the calm determination in her eyes and blanched.

  "Gwyneth, that would put you on your own, in the wilderness for two, maybe three days, with no protection. Besides, you have to stay here. Danae and Shahara will need your help."

  "My sisters will do very well without me for a day or two. Those children will need a mother figure — someone to dress their hurts and comfort them after what they've been through." She eyed him with a speculative gleam that made his mouth go dry. "Tell me Jotun, have you ever dealt with an injured, screaming child who has just spent several days being frightened out of her wits?"

  His jaw twitched but he said nothing.

  "I didn't think so." She gave him a coaxing smile. "It is only reasonable, Love. You'll need someone to help with the children, especially if one of you is hur.." she cut herself off, looking, for a moment, so worried and frightened that he lost all his resolve.

  "Fine," he rumbled, grabbing up a cloak and the pack she had prepared. "You'll come to help with the children. But," he whirled around and shook his finger in her face, "If it comes to a fight, you run. You run and you hide and you don't come out until I come for you. Agreed?"

  Not daring to smile, she gazed back at him a moment, then leaned forward and kissed the tip of his finger. "Agreed," she said, solemn as a village elder in the judgment seat.

  Forty minutes later she was fervently hoping she would not be required to run anywhere anytime soon. Take off and ascent had been accomplished without incident, but after he leveled off, Jotun had spent the remainder of their short flight battling vicious wind currents.

  He looked down into her face with concern as he fought yet another stiff downdraft that threatened to send them both tumbling into the trees below. The next second the wind had shifted and was thrusting him up and over. Before he could compensate, they had completed two spiraling loops and Gwyneth was looking at him in desperation.

  "Set down, please set down now."

  Seeing that her face had taken on the color of new grass, he made what speed he could in landing. No sooner had they touched down then she stumbled away from him, collapsed to her knees and produced the half-digested contents of her stomach in a revolting fashion.

  "I think I'm going to die now." She rolled over onto her back and directed a blank stare at the heavens, as if the continuation or termination of her existence was really no concern of hers either way.

  He brought out a flask of water and, lifting her upper body, held it to her lips, insisting that she drink a little when she tried to refuse.

  "At least rinse out your mouth. That can't taste good." He di
d a surreptitious check of her pulse and breathing while she complied, "You aren't really going to die are you?" He asked.

  She thought the question over. She didn't think she was injured, but surely food wasn't supposed to exit the body that way. The light blue of his eyes deepened as he waited for her answer and, after a moment, she could feel some of the warmth returning to her cheeks.

  "I'll let you know when I'm certain, one way or the other," she muttered. "Is flying always like that?"

  He shook his head. "No. There's always a bit of breeze, but nothing so violent. Do you always – purge – like that?"

  "No," she frowned. "In fact, the only other time I've seen anyone do that is when Abram ate some green fruit. He had awful stomach pains for an hour or so and then spewed up what he'd eaten like I did just now. He said he felt much better afterward."

  "Huh. And how do you feel now," he asked, watching her with wary eyes.

  She paused, taking internal inventory, "Better, I think. Give me a few minutes."

  He moved off, choosing to go on a brief reconnaissance mission while he waited. The forest was well grown, the trees tall and closely spaced. The ground between them was cluttered with a loose pack of low shrubs and vines, but there were animal trails they could make use of. He had determined that the woods close to them were empty of enemies when he saw Gwyneth picking her way through the brush towards him, her arms full of the pack he had dropped when they landed. Surrendering the pack to the earth, she slipped her hand into his.

  "What next?" she asked.

  He lifted an eyebrow "Well, normally I'd fly closer in because it's faster." She paled but made no protest beyond a tightening of her jaw.

  "However," he continued, "in this case, between the trees below and the heavy winds above, it will be better if we walk from here. It isn't far, by the description that Gant gave Phaella."

  She said nothing but hoisted his pack into his arms, and ignored his smile. The light of approval in his eyes warmed her, but she could tell he had expected complaints. Her lips tightened. She had asked to come. Complaints were a luxury she couldn't afford.

  Jotun took the lead and the two headed into the forest.

  A cold wind sighed through the trees as they trudged along, Jotun in front breaking a path through the thick foliage. He threw her a quick glance over his shoulder. "You are a stubborn woman, Gwyneth."

  She smiled. "Because I insisted on coming with you when I knew you would need me?" She shook her head. "I call that practical, not stubborn."

  He made an indeterminate sound and shoved his way through an especially heavy stand of trees. "At least you do not complain. Most would, I think."

  She frowned. "Humans, you mean?"

  He shrugged and pushed on. The trees shut out all but the occasional sliver of sky, but the air had a heavy, wet smell to it and the forest around them was silent except for the wind.

  They had been walking for only a short time when he stopped and asked her to wait where she was. Setting his pack aside, he freed his wings and leapt vertical, slipping between the tree branches like water through rocks. He was back in a few moments. "I think we may be running out of time, my love," he said, settling to the ground next to her.

  She swallowed. "What did you see?"

  "The horizon is smudged, as if someone had drawn a blanket across it. And the winds aloft are colder than I have ever felt. The air feels...wet."

  "The flood Danae spoke of?" Gwyneth blinked as the wind tugged at her hair, drawing it across her eyes. Shoving the offending strands behind her ear, she stared up at Jotun. "Its as well that I came along then," she said. "This way we won't be separated."

  He gave her a slow smile. "We can never be separated for long." He cupped her chin in his palm. "And if ever we are, all you need do is call to me and I will come. There exists no power, save Sabaoth's own, strong enough to keep me from you when you call."

  She stretched up and kissed him. "And none, save Sabaoth's own, that would keep me from you." A quick glance around showed her that the light, already dimmed by the surrounding forest, was beginning to fade. "But for now, we'd best get on. If we are running out of time, we need to get to the children before the storm hits."

  The pair strode through the forest and a few moments later broke into a clearing. On the other side Gant sat, waiting.

  "Where are the children?" Jotun asked.

  Gant averted his eyes. "The demons murdered four of them. I've already taken the bodies back to the village for burial," he said, his voice as desolate as an abandoned riverbed.

  Jotun said nothing, merely held out the water skin for Gant to drink.

  "They were already dead, so the Shift could do them no additional harm," Gant said. When Jotun did not respond but continued to offer the skin, he took it and drank. "Benat still has Sena's heart. I couldn't take the chance..." he stopped, head down, chest heaving, for a moment as he struggled to justify himself.

  Gwyneth touched his arm and he shivered, then twitched his arm out of reach. "You did right," she said, "If Benat sneaks back – well, those four, at least, are beyond his reach."

  "What of the other children?" Jotun kept his tone carefully neutral. Heaven only knew what he would do in Gant's place to save Gwyneth. He had no heart to judge his brother in arms, but there were other lives in the balance, and the question had to be asked.

  Gant shot him a guilty look, "They – I don't know. This is where he'll come, Jotun. I can't leave." He held out his palms in a plea for understanding. "It's the only chance I have of finding him, of making him give back Sena's heart."

  "The children must be found Gant," Jotun looked at his friend with pity, and all the understanding Gant had wordlessly requested, but his next words were uncompromising. "We can't wait here for Molek to spontaneously reform. He'll kill and eat them, just as he did to the rest."

  Pushing away the horrific image of her blood-soaked village, lifeless under the morning sun, Gwyneth continued. "I don't think the demon has them." She moved away from the pair and looked around the clearing.

  "What do you mean? He wouldn't have just left them," Jotun said.

  She shook her head. "Not if he had a choice, but... look," she gestured to two sacks on the ground. "You mentioned, back home, how hard it would be for a single angel to carry more than two humans at a time for any distance. Yet he got them here." She paused, letting them consider the implications. "So, between them, he and his minion, Benat, might have flown four of the children here."

  "Molek is older, stronger. He might have been able to carry three," Jotun ran a finger along his jaw line, mulling over the logistics required.

  "Very well, that makes five. But we know that they took at least fourteen from the village. They killed three in the cave. That leaves eleven. They could not have flown eleven children here," Gwyneth asserted, her pretty features hard with certainty.

  "Neither of them would have cared about damaging the humans..."

  "Yes, he would." Gant shuddered at the memory of blood and darkness in what became Sena's tomb. "Astarte wanted to..." he swallowed hard and revulsion writhed across his features. "Minutes after she was born, she offered me her mother's heart for Sena, and when I wouldn't take it she started to eat it. But Molek wouldn't let her. He said they didn't eat dead things, that it was...undignified."

  Jotun raised his hands in capitulation. "Fine, but he got them here somehow. That makes it more certain that he took them, or that Benat did, in which case, neither of them will be back."

  But Gwyneth shook her head. "No, even Molek couldn't move easily with five or six screaming, struggling children in his arms. And believe me, not a one of them would go easily. No, he would have needed to contain them, if only for the sake of convenience and his dignity." Her lips pursed as if over a foul taste. "That's what he used these sacks for." She pointed to the two huge sacks on the ground nearby, one close to the rock, the other nearer the forest edge.

  "And, if he carried them in the sacks, they might have
been protected in the Shift," Jotun said.

  Gwyneth nodded. "And look," she crossed to the second sack, "this cord has been cut, not untied. You do that if you are in a hurry, not if you're just taking something out for dinner."

  "Ok, so he and Benat carried the children here in these bags. And," Jotun fingered the uncut cord of the first sack, "they opened the first sack to take one of the children out?"

  Gant nodded. The strain around his eyes and lips eased as he thought the evidence through. "Maybe, maybe, but...look at the ground. It's all torn up. There was some kind of struggle here. And there's a spot over there that smells strongly of the Fallen, but there's no blood, no body, just a pile of ash."

  Jotun frowned and then lifted his face to them, "Fomor said that when he destroyed the demon Bansh there was —"

  A child's terrified scream jerked their attention to the forest. Before it had faded into the air, Jotun was running towards the sound. Gwyneth sped along behind him despite his terse command to, 'stay put.'

  Ripping through the forest, thrusting aside branches, feet barely touching the ground as the forest blurred around him, Jotun quickly left his wife behind, not even realizing that she had disobeyed him.

  A second scream split the air and the big angel increased his speed. Gwyneth fell further behind but she had no trouble following the trail of wrecked foliage he left in his wake. A third cry, this time an agonized wail, stabbed into her ears and she stumbled, falling hard to her knees. She struggled back to her feet and ran on.

  Jotun burst through the last line of trees and over a cliff edge, barely spreading his wings in time to stop himself from plummeting over the brink. In a ravine far below, the river snapped and snarled. To his right a set of high falls thundered its way down the cliff-side, sending thick clouds of spray into the air, soaking through his tunic in seconds. Spinning in mid-air, Jotun turned back to face the cliff and saw a small body hurtling into the spray. A shivering, agonized wail ripped into him as he dove towards the small form, but the air was too clouded, and he lost sight of the child almost immediately.