Chapter 14 David #2
The words sounded like a bedtime fable then. But now, they burned with terrifying truth:
“Before lands. Before gates,
Before soul chose form and root,
A lonely God wept, and from his tears, five children were born,
To each, he gifted a land,
To each land, a lifeflame—a Candela, to feed its power
and guide souls between life and death,
There, the Ferie Realm was birthed,
At its center, an isle of soul, the heart and memory of the Realm,
Where the first Flame burned. Where all souls return.
One god-child wept joy, and forests of blossoming love grew,
One sang hauntingly, luring shadows to build cities of bone,
One outwitted the wind, rewarded with gold-leafed fortune,
One danced for growth, and it rained fertility, eggs of light,
One stood in awe, a sacred hush fell and winter answered, gifting the sky a wave of neon magic.
But unknown to the God, a creature was born. Not by hand, but from the magic of the Ferie Realm itself,
An ancient being,
The mischief-maker, the memory of the lands,
the watcher, the protector,
The carrier of flame.
And if the flames go out,
If the Grove is drained of life,
If spirit can no longer find their way home to Soul Isle,
They will rise. The child of prophecy.
The Skell Queen will carry a child of trueborn power.
The first in Ferie, born of two great lines,
A forked path lies before them—one of free will, one of fate,
Should they choose the written path,
All shall bow,
Even the mightiest ruler will bend the lowest and rise at their side.”
A single stream of blood started to descend from her nostril as Maura began to choke. Then it began to spew out her mouth with a heave.
David wrapped an arm around her and lifted, propping her head up.
“I’m here with you. I’ll be here until the very end.”
Her limp hand cupped his cheek, thumbing away a tear.
“My greatest friend—you showed me life.” Wheezing, “Thank you. . . for that.”
Through the agony, he huffed a small laugh. “We did have some fun times, didn’t we?”
Her chest strained as she let out a struggled laugh.
“Remember our chocolate tour—around the realm? Luckland. . .”
He burst out laughing, “You mean when we sat on that bench gorging ourselves and you happened to forget you dropped a piece of chocolate on the bench where I sat? I walked around all day looking like I shit my pants!”
They both heaved in deep, broken laughter.
Even at death’s door, Maura didn’t seize to surprise him. She was the strongest, most resilient being he had ever met. No level of evil had ever broken her, not even the smallest crack. Her soul was impenetrable. And here she was looking in the face of death laughing.
Light sparkled in Maura’s eyes in that brief moment of wheezy coughs. A faint smile still lingered as she looked at him, grasping his hand with a gentle, loving squeeze. The kind of gesture to say, it’s all going to be all right.
Suddenly, a sharp hack turned into a staggering inhale, chest spasming. With one last breath, it seemed like time stopped, the light in the room dimming and the very air around them gaining a chill.
A final exhale, and the life behind Maura’s eyes snuffed out.
“No.” David’s whisper was a broken kiss goodbye, lost to the silence.
A deep ominous horn suddenly sounded in the distance, shaking the walls of the castle. Muffled shouts began, slowly getting closer.
They were coming. He was coming.
All eyes snapped to the door. They needed to leave and needed to leave now.
Pudge was uncontrollably sobbing, clinging to Maura’s side. His little cheeks flushed red with despair.
David held out his hand to the Cherubs.
“We need to go. Now!” His voice strained.
Huck flew over to Pudge, urging him to get moving but Pudge was hysterically shaking his head, refusing to leave Maura, as if pleading: We can’t leave her here!
David’s body shuttered, looking toward the door. “We have no choice, Pudge. It’s time,” he choked.
The yells outside were significantly closer.
Fighting Pudge’s grip, Huck grabbed a hold of one wing and pulled him back,. With a hard yank, Pudge was forced to release his hold on Maura. A small tuff of white feathers flittered to the ground.
Dragging Pudge back in a bear hug, Huck extended his other hand to David and they rifted away.
Huck, Pudge, and David emerged on a small, rocky hilltop in Loveland. It was covered in tall rhododendron flowers of a deep red hue.
The two Cherubs exchanged a sharp glance at each other. This clearly wasn’t where they’d meant to rift to. Wrong. It was all wrong.
Sunlight was overshadowed by clouded dimness. Something was off.
David took a flower between his fingers, and his worn face went somber. Danger, the flowers wordlessly declared.
The ground beneath his feet trembled before beginning to violently quake.
“What can you see?” His shouts echoed to Huck and Pudge.
Wings shot straight into the air. Within a moment, Huck’s caramel skin and chocolate curls came back into view, eyes grave.
Destroyed . . .
“No. No!” David roared. “Go! Get as many people to safety as you can!”
At full speed, the Cherubs sped away.
He sprinted to the top of the hilltop to see it for himself.
A complete inferno. Crystal City was ablaze. Raging, fiery plumes dispersed throughout the city quarters, smoke angrily billowing from the Crystal Castle.
Faint screams bellowed through the valley below.
Mount Lovelorn was smoldering. Massive rocks spewed, catapulting through the sky like meteors. They smashed into the buildings with force, sending flaming sparks flying.
So much destruction. So much death.
Great thick clouds swelled above, sprinkling a flurry of ash. Cinders swirled like chalky petals in the wind.
An explosion erupted, sending a menacing tremor through the ground.
The Crystal Castle. Its beautiful walls crumbled, lifting clouds of pink-kissed debris.
David clutched his chest, hyperventilating. He wasn’t sure if his heart was still beating. It felt brutalized after losing Maura, but now—now it was entirely cracking in half.
His home. His people.
David’s knees slammed into the ground with a vicious crack and tears streamed down his face.
A bolt of red lightning struck his body from above. Back arched, he roared to the heavens, to any Souls in Celestial City who would hear his cry.
Radiant wings tore through his shoulder blades, splaying wide as if born gasping. Power, birthed in pain.
The new Lord of Loveland ascended.