Chapter Thirty-Five: Farewell ( Part II)
"Sleep after toil, part after stormy seas,
Ease after war, death afterlife does greatly please."
- Edmund Spencer, "The Faerie Queen."
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Song of the chapter: Sorry that I loved you by Anthony Neely ( PLAY IT PLAY IT!)
Media: more living dead! (lol)
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Chapter Thirty-Five: Farewell ( Part II)
"No, NO!" Tears of anger and loss ran down her cheeks as she continued shaking Eli. Her arms throbbed, as did her head. She pressed her forehead against Eli's cold temple. She breathed on his nose, somehow convinced that it would bring Eli back from the Underlands. His eyes, once lively and full of life were hollow and empty.
I thought you love me. If you love me, look at me, tell me you love me!
The harsh reality hit her. Eli would never look at her the way he used to, full of love and care. He was gone, leaving behind a cold shell which would never respond to her pleas.
"He's gone." Jasper's soft statement hung in the air, like thin threads being pulled in between them.
Cady laid Eli down on the floor, gently. Her hands brushed over his face, like she was caressing him, closing his eyes. He looked like he was sleeping, even with all the blood covering his clothes and face.
"Why," she whispered. "Why kill him?"
"He was in the way," Jasper replied. "I gave him a chance to move, he didn't take it."
"You killed him." She rose, turning her tear-stained face to Jasper. Cady looked at him, like really looked at him, taking in his lean frame in Walker armor, his hair disheveled and wild, just like his eyes. "He did nothing wrong."
Jasper took a step forward, the links in his armor clinking. "Cady, I know this is shocking, but we need to accept the fact that the Sanguinis is the family that destroyed our Hall, our families."
"You never told me you were a Walker," she choked. "All this time, I trusted you."
He tried to put a hand on Cady's shoulder, but she shrugged it off. A flicker of pain flitted over his expressions, but he hurriedly changed it back into his cold leer.
"You don't understand. I had to keep it a secret. I-"
"Did you ever love me, Jasper?" Cady directed the question at him, hoping that her words would slash through his consciousness. "Or did you pretend to love me, so you can find a way to enter the Hall of Spirits unsuspected?"
"Don't start assuming things, Cady." He exhaled. "Of course I love you."
"Then why attack the Hall? Why kill the Oracles? Why lie to me?" Cady was teetering precariously at the edge of insanity, reeling in her emotions as tight as possible. She would not break down, not before she got her answers.
"You're a Walker, just like me. You should know. They took away everything from us, don't you want revenge?"
"Are you even telling the truth, Jasper Silverbird?" Cady fisted tears out of her eyes. "I don't even know whether I should believe the words coming out of your mouth anymore."
Jasper's grip on the cabinet tightened, turning his knuckles a ghostly white. "Everything I told you, everything about my past, is true."
"I believed you to be an Oracle. Now you are a Walker."
"Do you want the whole story, Cady?" Jasper moved forward. Cady shuffled back, almost tripping over Eli's body. "Then I will tell you."
"I am Jasper Gideon Silverbird, son of Zuben and Ara Silverbird. Walker blood runs in my veins from my mother's side. When I was five, the Oracles raided the Hall of Shadows. At that time, I was away on a trip with my father to the Oracle towns to visit my sick grandmother. I escaped the massacre, but that didn't stop them from hunting me down."
There was a faraway look in Jasper eyes, flashing with hurt and anger. Cady didn't speak, still trying to digest the story.
"My father stood back to fight off the Oracles, forcing me to run by casting a spell in the Old Tongue. I ran, far away from the Oracle patrols. At that time I have yet my Celestial tattoos, so it was easy to disguise as a Tinker, any other Starlet. I joined a gang, where we heaped riches upon ourselves. The gang became my family. But then, I turned twelve."
Jasper stared at his hands, trembling slightly. "My shadow abilities started waking up. I couldn't control them, there was no one to teach me. One night on a raid, I accidentally killed one of my own companions. They cast me out, breaking my arm and hit me all over. I wanted to kill myself."
A single tear glistened on his cheek. "Then, I met her."
Cady's heart thudded. Was that girl his lover?
"Nerisha was an Ancient, one of the most feared Decanate in the lands. Many Oracles have tried to kill her in the past but none succeeded. I was on the brink of death, starving and in pain. She nurtured me back to health with apples and burnt meat, which was very thoughtful of her." His lips curled upward in a small smile, a glint of light in the darkness.
"Eventually, she became my Consort. She thought me everything I knew--how to differentiate poisonous plants from herbs, how to harness my powers as a Walker. She taught me to converse in the Old Tongue as well as to avoid suspicion by making the cream paste to cover my own tattoos. She gave me the Gilded Tarot, a treasure she had been looking after ever since the last owner died."
Cady then knew-Jasper's sorrow at the river while staring at the dragon star, his wistful expressions while watching Zoroth and her train. He missed his own Consort. She must have passed on.
"You're right, Cady," he said. "The Oracles cut her into bits. Master Calaeno led the attack, having heard rumors about a Walker from my former gang. He gathered a massive army of Oracles and Warriors and marched to our cave. Unprepared, Nerisha couldn't take down that large number of skilful fighters. She went down fighting while I escaped at the expense of her life."
"Do you see why I hate Oracles? They took away everything, everything I loved and cared for. Why can't I do the same? I want them to feel the pain they caused. I want them to pay for all the bloodshed. And now, I have the ability to hurt them."
Jasper took Cady's hand. "I have the Iambicum Trimetrum. With every Warrior the Hall of Spirits and Games pitch against us, I will kill them to turn them against them. We, the last Walkers, will rebuild our homeland. We can rule Esvanira!"
Cady flung off his hand. "You think I would want to rule a place where everyone is suffering? You're gravely mistaken."
"We will be in power!" Jasper reasoned. "There will be no more war after this. There will be peace!"
She looked him in the eye. "If you think a war is the solution to end your hatred, you're no different from Raphine Sanguinis."
"Don't mention his name!" Jasper roared. All his composure and calmness was gone, replaced by a feral energy which emanated from his body. Thick strands of shadows snaked toward him, rising and snarling. "I am a Walker, and I fight for a cause. Do not compare me to that abomination!"
Jasper stormed over to Raphine's body which slumped against the blood stained pillows. He clicked his fingers. Strands of shadows slithered over it, digging into his flesh, consuming him. Within minutes, the body was gone. The fat shadows retreated back to the corners and vanished.
His eyes softened. "See what a fully trained Walker can do? Together, we will be unstoppable. What say you, will you join me?"
He held out a hand to Cady, an invitation to unlimited powers. Cady stared at him-the boy whom she loved and hated, the boy who spoke both truth and lies and shook her head. "I will never join you."
Jasper stiffened and retracted his hand. "So be it."
He turned on his heel and walked off. When he reached the doorframe, he suddenly whirled around, a wicked gleam of gold in between his fingers. He flung a leaf of the Gilded Tarot at Cady. She didn't blink. She watched the deadly weapon cut the air toward her and braced herself for the impact.
It didn't come.
It froze in motion, directly before her forehead. So close, she could feel the sharp edge kissing her skin yet it didn't open up bleeding doors.
Jasper gritted his teeth, his hand still out stretched. He dropped the card. "Go, I never want to see you again."
Cady remained rooted on the spot.
"I said, go!" he roared. "You won't join me, so I will kill you. But for old time's sake, I give you a chance. Go before I change my mind."
She shifted.
"GO!"
Without looking back, Cady fled. Tears clouded her vision. She didn't even bother to wipe them away. With a swift kick, she hurled herself out of the nearest window where Zoroth's wings spread out behind her, cushioning her fall in the air and brought her up.
She didn't know where she was heading. Blindly, she spiraled into the Darkling Woods where she landed on a patch of dry leaves, bumping her head on a tree trunk. Cady staggered to her feet, her hands on a low branch.
The horrified look on Eli's face-the look of death burned in her mind, searing her ability to think. Wherever she looked, she saw darkness, the haunted expression on her friend's face. A scream tore itself from her throat.
He's dead, the darkness whispered. Everyone is dead and gone.
Dead! The trees chorused, shaking their branches in agreement. Dead! Dead! Dead!
Her hands clawed at her hair, screaming her lungs out. A murder of crows fluttered overhead, joining the mayhem with, cawing with their hoarse voices.
It drowned out Zoroth's voice that was trying to bring Cady back to sanity. It was pandemonium within her mind. Her legs brought her tearing through the woods, earning her face and arms gashes from the pointed twigs. Many times she tripped, but she got back up, trying to evade the noises following her.
But no one could outrun the voices in their heads.
Cady didn't know how far and how long she ran. The voices kept on coming back for her, reaching out with slimy arms and twisted faces. The sun gave way to darkness. She collapsed by an abandoned well, wheezing, too tired to run anymore. The voices in her head had died down into a chant. She shook her head and reached out for the pail, hoping that the well still contained water.
As she leaned over to lower the bucket, something cold and wet suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist.
She screamed, leaping backwards. Shadows hissed and rushed to her aid.
Eli Sanguinis climbed out of the well, his slimy hands slipping against the smooth stones. His head emerged, dripping wet and flaccid. His Oracle robes clung to him like a second skin, blotted with blood-his blood leaking from the wound in his heart.
Cady, Eli said. How could you lie to me?
"No," she said. "You can't be here. You-you're dead!"
You're a Walker, you betrayed my trust. Why didn't you tell me?
She clamped her hands over her ears. "Raphine will kill me!"
Eli flopped off the well, landing like a rock on the ground. He picked himself up, a sinister smile plastered on his face.
How would you know? He asked. I am not Raphine. What if I can accept you as who you are?
Eli was closing in, taking huge, advancing steps. Cady flattened her back against a tree trunk, her hand closing around her cocoon of shadows.
He cocked his head to the side, eyeing her jabbed blades of darkness. You won't hurt me, won't you?
Cady tightened her grip on the shadows, raising them to eye level.
If you hurt me, then you're no different than Jasper Silverbird.
"Shut up!" Jasper's name was enough to rip everything within her into shreds. She funneled out the shadows, attacking the shimmering image of Eli in front of her. The shadows cut through air, and Eli rippled out of sight.
You killed me, a disembodied voice snarled. You killed me.
I didn't, she screamed. Jasper did!
Cold hands closed around her windpipe. She gurgled, fighting off the clammy hands on her skin. Her tired legs took her a few meters from the old well before collapsing. Cady groaned. Pain and fatigue clung to her, weighing her down as she continued crawling forward, using her arms to drag her body.
A cry resonated from the distance. I see someone!
She lifted her head. Her vision was already blurring, everything was a maelstrom of colors and distorted images. More hands closed on her legs and arms. Screaming, she kicked them off. Eli's face flashed before her. She threw up a punch. To her satisfaction, the phantom Eli released a cry of pain and vanished.
"Leave me alone," she whispered. "Just leave me alone."
Her eyes closed. Darkness claimed her. The world was now nothing but emptiness and hushed whispers.
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A/N
A turn of events. Jasper refused to kill Cady, and now she'd fled, haunted by the dead and Eli's ghost. I know this chapter sounds absolutely crazy but believe me it gets much crazier. >:)
I am still not coming out of my bomb bunker. Nuh-uh.
Salmons,
Stef
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