Last Wishes
Chapter Five
The Chosen
Tunneling my way out of the mountain takes longer than I anticipated, and even when it is finally possible to breach the surface, I wait.
Over and over again, I mentally replay my conversation with Grand Minister Judiah, revisiting the last instructions he gave me.
Six years, six months, and six days. No sooner.
The world will be nothing like it was before.
It will be in ruins. Completely changed.
Don’t expect to see much life remaining, especially on the far side of the continent.
The air will be toxic for some time. The waters, unsafe to drink.
Most of the animals will carry disease. Eat only what you grow yourself from clean soil, or from the meal packs I’ve supplied and left for you in the chamber.
Filter water through the filtration system I also left for you.
Wear the mask, armor, and gloves I’ve provided.
The elixir will sustain you for the most part and keep you healthy and free of disease at its most potent.
However, between doses, you will still need to take great care.
Occasionally, you will need to eat and hydrate.
But not as often as you do now. There are plenty of rations to last you through to the end.
When you hunt for them, the Horsemen, you will need to traverse great distances to seek them out, so find a way to carry what you need with you for those trips. Locate places where you can keep hidden stores of elixir and stash the weapons. That’s the most important part. Guard both with your life.
It’s also vital that you are not far from the elixir for any long period of time. When injured, it’ll enable a quick recovery. It must be ripe in your blood for its properties to heal great wounds or fight disease. In both instances, it will be what keeps you from death.
Keep a dose or two on you at all times.
With it, you will not feel any ill effects from the radiation in the air, but take heed of my words and still test its limits.
The supplies and further instructions are in the chamber. I have laid out every detail. Your study and training regimen. Everything I know about them. All I’ve gleaned from the Good Book and its companion is there.
The wait will be long and hard. Use the time wisely. Never sit idle. Sharpen your mind. Dive into your studies. Excel in your training. Learn to use the weapons masterfully, more so than what you learned battling with your sisters.
There is also the other training we spoke of, and this is very important.
You must learn how to wield it with efficiency.
Should your combat skills fail against them, this is yet another tool in your arsenal that God has gifted you with.
Use it when necessary to distract or gain their favor.
Whatever helps you get close enough to discover their weakness and defeat them, or get close enough to strike a blow that will remove them from this world.
“The weapons are there in the hidden recess. Here are the keys.” He pulls a chain from under his robe and lifts it up and over his head. After grabbing my hand, he gently places a thin gold chain with three very ancient-looking skeleton keys in my palm.
“Show them to no one. Safeguard these and the weapons. Wait to use the weapons until the time comes when you can strike a death blow against one of them. The moment they realize what you wield, they will endeavor to take it from you. You can not, under any circumstances, let that happen. They must not fall into their hands. Understand?”
I nod. “Yes, Grand Minister.”
“Good.”
His eyes search my face. A sad smile tugs at the corner of his lips.
“Then it is finished. My last duty has been fulfilled. But I do have one last favor to ask of you.” He pats my thigh and rises.
He moves away from me and across the room to the shelves behind his desk.
He pulls a rather large book from the top shelf and leafs through many pages.
When he finds the page he wants, he stops, turns, and brings it back to me. He lays the book in my lap.
I peer down and see what rests in a cut-out section of the pages. My fingers idly study the matte black metal.
It’s a dagger with four black, twisting blades that act as one and join at the tip. The handle is made of bleached bone and jewel-encrusted with a blood diamond at the hilt. I take a moment to study it, the fine craftsmanship, the many facets, and the way the diamond reflects light from above.
My gaze slowly lifts to meet his. “Father?”
“It’s the last task I would ask of you. To send me to meet my maker so the secrets I carry die with me.
Then you must, along with the other chosen, as I instructed earlier, do the same with the rest of the Order.
End it and end it quickly. All who know of this place and the divine secrets must face their end tonight.
All but you chosen three. And then only you.
You are the reason for all of this, and it’s time you accept the role I have selected you for. ”
He reaches down and removes the dagger from the book.
He first tests its weight by bouncing it lightly in his hand, and then he pricks his finger on the pointed end.
Blood immediately pools from the wound. Lifting his finger, he inspects it before rubbing it with his thumb and smearing the blood across both.
Then he flips the blade deftly and holds it out to me. “I am ready.”
He may be, but I am not. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around all that I have learned tonight.
My faith is being tested more than in all the years I have spent in the Order combined.
I believe, because I have seen them. The four devils on horseback.
But my faith has been a little shaken by the magnitude of what the grand minister has laid out for me.
And this, how can he ask this of me?
Without waiting for me to make up my mind, he begins to take off his collar. Once it’s removed, he unbuttons his shirt, baring the upper portion of his chest.
“Up, child. On your feet.” I obey. Of course I do. I stand before him, and become a statue as he places the dagger in my hand and taps on his chest, the place directly over his heart.
“Strike hard and strike true. Just like you must do to them. Hesitate, and they will kill you. Doubt my words from this day forward, and you will fail. Fail, and humanity will be extinguished from this plane of existence. To fail me is to fail this order. And this is what I ask of you. Are you prepared to fulfill your duty?”
It takes me longer than it should to come to a decision. But the Grand Minister is patient with me and speaks no more as unruly thoughts bounce around inside my head.
Ultimately, it is he and his faith that lend me the conviction I need to see this through. I don’t want to do this, but the love for him, whether right or wrong, that I hold in my heart, can not deny him anything that he might wish of me. So this is what guides my actions and my hand.
I spare him the mercy of knowing the blow is coming and do as he says. I strike like the most deadly of serpents. Within the blink of an eye, the blade rests deep in his chest.
A second later, his mouth parts on a gasp.
His beautiful blue eyes flare wide, and then a sort of peace settles over his features as dawning realization settles in.
I have done it. Driven a knife straight into his heart.
His body slackens. Then he begins to fall.
A corner of his mouth hikes up and to the right—a smile is gracing his mouth for the last time.
I catch him before he hits the floor and lay him gently on the beige, red, blue, and gold Persian rug.
For a long while, I stay, kneeling next to him.
Grief takes hold of my heart. The tears come as I comb his soft, dark-blonde curls away from his face.
I close his eyes and lay his hands over his chest. I keep his rosary and trade it for mine to lace over his hands.
I place the cross between his index finger and thumb.
Then I take a mental picture of this moment, so this sacrifice is one I will not forget, nor his faith, as I believe I will need to borrow it many times over in the future to do what it is he has asked of me.
I won’t forget, and I won’t fail. He will remain forever in my thoughts and be what guides my actions from this day forward.
The last thing I do is place my own lips against his. It’s brief and entirely selfish, but I won't let him leave this world and set me on this path without acknowledging that he stole my heart many years ago, and what I do from this day forward will not be entirely for the Order.
It will also be an act of love for him.
Year 2243
After dressing in layers, I don a few pieces of armor.
Not all of it, but enough to protect my vital organs without limiting my mobility.
The armor is light in color—a pale, off-white with silver accents—finely made to fit my shape.
Then I secure the mask over my face. My vision is somewhat hindered by it, as is my breathing, but it’s a necessary evil since I don’t know what I’ll face on the other side of the door—whether the air will indeed be toxic or not.
It takes a great deal of effort to wedge the door open. The heavy metal protests as it grinds against the rock. When the gap widens, bits of the carved entrance break off, tumbling into the doorway. But it gives me my first real glimpse of the outside world in forty-one years.
And what greets me is a world of ash.
The ground isn’t just covered in it—it rides the breeze like a steady companion and coats the sky, dimming the sun, which is barely visible through the shifty veil.
In a way, it reminds me of snow. The kind I played in as a child, on the rare winter days Sister Odessa allowed me beyond the monastery gate.
But this is not ordinary ash. It holds no purity of fire. It drifts in thick, choking sheets, swirling like monstrous dust through the air. The world is colorless, and though I should have expected it, it still takes me by surprise.
When I step out, it clings to me. The ground gives beneath my weight as if it’s made of powder. My first steps down the mountain sink knee-deep, ash shifting around me, swallowing my footprints as soon as I make them.
I try not to think about what it truly is.
But the thought creeps in anyway—traitorous and merciless.
The world burned while I was locked away. This is what remains.
A cold weight settles in my stomach.
I tighten my grip on the strap of my pack and lower my gaze. I let the thought of all that has been lost fuel my steps and keep me moving. I have to. All the while, I keep telling myself not to imagine faces in the drifting clouds of white.
This is why I was spared. This is why I am here.
Somewhere beyond this mountain lies what remains of humanity.
My goal is simple.
To keep walking until I find them.