Chapter 7
Cal
In my grip was the familiar weight of my sword. I still felt that same pulse buzzing in time with my heart. I told myself it was proof I was alive. Maybe.
I fought against the pain that wracked my body as I pushed myself up. Not the same pain I’d overcome just moments ago. Hours ago? Days ago? This pain was more manageable, easier to push to the side, and it seemed to lessen as I blinked in the sunlight.
Sunlight. I shot to my feet, my head spinning for a moment as I regained my bearings.
My free hand pressed against one of my temples in an attempt to push the world back into focus.
I whirled in place, my eyes falling on the same cabin I’d seen from the Darkness Beyond.Without a second thought, I was sprinting through the garden and up the stairs to the deck.
“Petra!” I shouted, still unsteady as I ripped open the white-painted door and rushed into the cabin .
A gasp was my only response as a woman turned from where she stood at the counter in the kitchen. It was Elin.
Her eyes widened with confusion, her lips parting in shock as her eyes moved up and down my armor. “King B-Belin?” she stammered, her back hitting the counter.
“Where is Petra?” I panted, my eyes moving around the interior of the house.
“Th-They went to see Soren,” she answered, her voice rife with concern as she stared at me. “What is going on?” Within a moment, the door was slamming behind me as I bounded down the steps and toward the town. Elin’s voice sounded from behind me. “She’s okay!”
I wanted to turn around and scream that Petra wasn’t okay. Nobody here was going to be okay. But I kept on running.
It wasn’t hard to guess where I’d find Soren. The castle towered over the streets below, a guard standing watch over Heaven.
I had no plan. No ideas. Only that I needed to get to that castle, find Petra, and warn her.
Houses of every type and size whirred by me as I sprinted.
A few faces turned my way as I passed, looking up from their gardening or card games as a man in bloody armor tore through their quiet street.
Part of me wanted to scream, wanted to warn them, too.
But I kept my focus on Petra, my eyes on the castle that grew closer with every step I took. Not fast enough.
My steps faltered as something tightened in my chest, a thread pulled taut.
Ignoring it, I pushed on. But then it pulled hard, stopping my steps completely.
What the hell? I stood in the middle of an idyllic cobblestone road, chest heaving, sweat running down my back.
The feeling pulled me toward a stone pathway, and though every other part of me screamed to run to Petra, the tug was in control.
Cautiously, I took a step forward. Then another one. The thread pulled tighter, my steps quickening as the pull strengthened, leading me further. The stone pathway was lined with greenery, trees and shrubs so heavy with blooms and fruit, their branches bowed downward.
The thread loosened, like it was satisfied I’d followed it where it wanted me to go. My steps came to a stop, the end of that invisible thread fluttering to the ground.
Two homes sat side by side, one opulent and of considerable size — like the ones in Prisma — and the other a quaint cottage with ivy vining up its stone exterior.
The houses shared a large patio that overlooked the sea beyond.
At one side of a table, tipping a teacup to her lips and dressed as elegantly as she had been the day she died, was my Aunt Berna. And on the other side…
My mother.
I couldn’t tell if it was pain or disbelief that seized my heart. Maybe it was both, or maybe it was something else. But there she was. There they were. Together.
The last memory I had of my mother was of the light leaving her eyes and blood rushing from her fractured skull.
I closed my eyes, deciding that no matter what happened, this was how I would remember her from now on.
She looked rested. Happy. Nothing like the day I’d watched her die.
And though I’d forgotten the sound of her voice long ago, lost the memory of the shape of her nose and the way she smelled, I hadn’t forgotten the vibrant green of her eyes.
They were just as vibrant as I remembered.
Even from here, even with her attention on Berna, I could see how bright they were.
The two of them hadn’t noticed me where I stood on the pathway.
My mother’s voice lilted and lulled as she seemed to tell a story, pausing every few moments to laugh, Berna’s giggle mingling with the sound.
I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but the familiar and forgotten sound of her voice solidified itself in my brain.
I vowed to never forget the sound again .
Warmth spread through me, emotion thick in my throat. They were together. They’d found each other here in this life beyond life, somehow.
I raised a hand, ready to call out to them, but the words caught in my throat as both their heads suddenly turned toward town.
My hand dropped to my side and I followed their line of sight.
I hadn’t heard anything. Had they? For some reason, I ducked farther out of their view as they started to make their way toward their garden gate and out onto the pathway.
Behind me, a series of clicks and rattles sounded, and I spun to see all the garden gates along the pathway opening as people pushed through.
I was paralyzed in place as the small crowd maneuvered around me, a soft murmur sounding as they all moved in the same direction.
I could still see my mother and Aunt Berna in the crowd, the backs of their heads growing smaller as the path carried them farther and farther away.
Why hadn’t I called out to them when they were in the garden?
I wanted to call out to them now, but my eyes moved to the town again, catching on the castle.
Petra.
With one final glance in their direction, I forced myself to back away.
A sick feeling settled in my stomach as I moved back toward the main path.
The black mark on the horizon was obscured by the castle as I neared, somewhere tucked between the rolling hills.
Did the people here in Heaven know what it was?
Had they noticed it? What about Petra? Did she already know what was coming for her here?
I crested the final hill, my feet pounding as I beheld the scene before me.
From this vantage point, I could see the crowd forming near a towering gate.
The Gates, if I had to guess. It would be impossible to pick out my mother and aunt amid the crowd, especially as I sprinted, but it didn’t stop me from trying as I careened over the hill.
A pasture sprawled to my left, the swaying green grass within illuminated by the golden sunlight.
A horse, black as night, trotted toward the wooden fence, his attention rapt on the gathering crowd as his tail swished back and forth.
And there she was. I stopped in my tracks, staring at the tiny figure in the distance, standing apart from the crowd.
Even from here, I knew it was Petra. Did everyone know she was here?
Was that the reason everyone had congregated in town?
It had to be. Even from here, even this far away, the sight of her caused my breath to hitch. Pride swelled in my chest.
The horse in the pasture beside me brayed.
“That’s the love of my life,” I murmured, pointing in Petra’s direction.
“There, at the front of the crowd.” The horse didn’t answer, because he was a horse.
I was talking to a fucking horse. But Saints, the pride overflowed in me, and I had to put it into words.
A few people stood alongside Petra. Larka, probably.
Maybe her father? Saints, I hoped she got to see her father again.
Another figure stepped forward from the crowd, and Petra launched herself at them.
Who was that? I could see someone else standing close by, but no matter how hard I squinted, the distance was far too great to discern any of their features.
The horse’s hoof pawed at the grass, its ears flicking back and forth wildly. “I’m not a fan of crowds, either,” I told him. “But this one, I don’t mind.” My mother and aunt were down there, somewhere in her vicinity. Maybe they’d never meet, but the thought of them just being near to Petra…
Tears pricked at the backs of my eyes as I pinched the bridge of my nose, but I looked up when the horse brayed again. His hoof was moving faster against the grass, each impact so hard it felt like the ground was rumbling beneath my feet.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him, as if he could answer.
He grew more agitated still, his chest bumping up against the wooden fence. The whites of his eyes were visible around the dark rings of his irises. The rumbling beneath my feet grew stronger, and I realized it wasn’t from the horse’s hoof at all.
Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong .
Terror seized me, my muscles freezing as I stared at the crowd gathered for Petra.
Think, Cal, think. I was a mile away at least, immobilized by indecision.
I could run to her, push through the crowd, hope I made it to her in time.
I flinched as the horse’s movements grew more erratic, shifting on its hooves as its nostrils flared and its breathing quickened.
“Petra!” I shouted desperately, knowing there was no way she’d hear me from here.
But dammit, I was going to try. “ Petra !” My hands tore through my hair.
“Fuck!” I bellowed, feeling completely helpless as I spun in place, looking for an answer.
I froze as I spotted the horizon behind me, where a dark cloud had just begun to form.
The rumbling in the ground grew deeper, the anxiety in my chest growing louder along with it. I stared at the horse, and he stared back at me. It was like he knew, too. The Occulti weren’t just coming.
They were here.