Ascension (38 page)

“That is now twice you've inflicted me with pain,” the wraith had cackled, holding up the remnants of Elizabeth's incinerated uniform. “But you must have known this wouldn't work.”

“Kill me,” Monica requested. The mournful tone in her voice upon uttering these two words had never left his memories.

“It is not yet your time,” said the wraith, as he snapped his fingers and a lone ember floated toward the ground. “You will live on so that one day we might have a rematch. What use will any newfound strength be to me, if there is no one left to test it? You've lost this time young Indigo, but we shall meet again.”

On these final words, the wraith Namtar, turned away from Monica, leaving the plateau and the trail of destruction behind him.

Still powerless to break through this transparent wall, his head throbbing and his frustration growing, Anzu tried to ram the glassy surface with all his might. After crashing up against the wall time after time, he could feel the sorrow build within his Indigo; he could see the tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Monica…how could you…?” He heard Katherine cry out.

What does she mean?
He pondered.
What exactly did she see that I did not?

But the more he thought about it, he too remembered that Elizabeth had offered to take her sister's place – to sacrifice herself. But Monica had unleashed one final attack upon the Corrupted that consumed both he and her sister in a blazing inferno. Anzu then came to wonder if Katherine blamed Monica for her mother's death.

“And so this historic battle reached its untimely conclusion,” he had heard the masked Corrupted proclaim. Anzu could see now that the precipice had gone and been replaced by a scene in the principal's office. “Fortunately, we've been presented with a chance to resume from where they'd left off. Now Katherin, you must decide. Will you continue along this same path, or devote yourself to the lord of shadows?”

As Anzu peered down through this transparent wall, he spotted the masked Corrupted circling Monica; the operative was seated and bound on the principal's chair. But to the Corrupted's right, he also saw Katherine, kneeling before Monica with her hands clenched into fists.

Justin then stepped forward from a corner of the office. “You've only witnessed a few atrocities committed by this organisation. Once given a choice, this woman let my lord consume your mother's soul in place of her own. Need I remind you of their wicked attempts to clone others of the same ilk? This is not an organisation to hold with any reverence.”

“Lies…, the only words that seem to leave this young man's mouth are lies,” Anzu grumbled to himself, as he thought back to what Monica had told him after their defeat.

He remembered Monica had spoken of a special bond she shared with her sister, and of how they'd tried to combine their energies in one final effort, no matter the cost.
You mustn't believe what he says my young Indigo, for not everything is as it seems.

With her chin held high, he heard Katherine ask, “And what makes you think I'd join your cause instead? Why would I willingly follow a tyrant's rule?”

The masked Corrupted Alu sighed, removing the hood of his cloak and reaching down behind his neck. “I must have made it abundantly clear by now that to challenge my lord is nothing more than an act of futility. And it's high time I forced the issue.”

The masked Corrupted bent his head forward and withdrew a crescent blade his spine.

“Alu, there is no need,” said Justin

“There is every need, my young Indigo,” Alu insisted, unsheathing his blade and examining its tip. “If Ms Munroe truly wishes to join your cause, then she'll have little problem with beheading the one who let her mother die. But if she so chooses to follow the path that would make her our enemy, then I shall be the one to end her life.”

Anzu watched as Alu offered Katherine the blade. “I suggest you choose wisely,” he said.

Anxiety coursed through Anzu; his heart was racing, and doubt clouded his mind. He attempted to communicate with Katherine again and provide her with a voice of reason.

Katherine, can you hear me? You mustn't listen to them,
he pleaded, before resuming his charging against the crystallized wall.

Drops of blood fell from his battered wings, and he could hear his bones crunching each time he crashed against its firm surface. Soon after, he also heard the whispers of a cold and grim presence he'd wished to be rid of.

“I have sensed her trying to infiltrate my realm and reach you,” Alu told him, having returned. “But with the blade I gave her, she will soon take the life of your mother's former master, and bring this little game of ours to an end.”

“You've underestimated my young Indigo once before, and I'm confident she'll surprise you yet again,” Anzu responded, pouncing backward in anticipation that the Corrupted would engage him with further swordplay. But the Corrupted merely stood there before him, gazing out beyond the wall's glassy surface.

“If I was being honest, my lords' young Indigo is more optimistic than I could ever hope to be,” said Alu. “In fact, I've never expected that she'd follow through with it. This is why I have another plan in place…”

“What do you mean? What is it you intend to do?”

Alu stepped aside “You can see for yourself. As you look down through this window on the physical plane of existence, you will find there's a total of five individuals occupying the office space. And as my lord's young Indigo was quick to point out, and when you first made your way along the corridor, not everything is as it seems.”

While trying to understand what the Corrupted had said, and trying to find a way to warn Katherine, he scanned the dimly lit office for anything that didn't belong. Katherine, Monica, and even Justin: they were all there, and this much was true as he could sense their energies. But he could also sense the masked Corrupted's presence coming from multiple directions. There was the masked Corrupted standing next to him, there was one visible within the space who'd offered the blade to Katherine, and then there was another he'd yet to find.

“Your young Indigo need only choose,” said the masked Corrupted. “But which one will it be?”

Wielding Alu's spectral sword, Katherine quietly motioned forward and positioned the blade beneath Monica's neck. Prepared to strike, she lurched back with her shoulders and swung, slicing through her target.

Within an instant, he heard the masked Corrupted let out a dry gasp, and fragments of his porcelain mask fell to the floor. “Impossible…”

The transparent wall had also given away before him, shattering into a thousand pieces. Anzu leapt through this gateway, and re-entered the physical realm that was the principal's office.

“Anzu,” Katherine cried out to him, as he landed before her and positioned himself between the young Indigo the place where the masked Corrupted now lay.

“You really are something else,” he replied, for she'd chosen right.

It had all happened so fast. He'd been correct to recognize there were three forms of Alu present. But unlike Katherine, he'd found himself unable to tell which version was real. Putting it all together, he promptly recognized the Corrupted within his self-made realm had proven to be nothing more than an illusion. The one visible within the space was not the one who had appeared at first, for a tormented and grimy David Heathgate now lingered in the place where the Corrupted had stood only moments before. Then there was the third scent he'd detected of the real masked Corrupted who had lurked in the shadows behind the seated and bound Monica.

“This is far from over,” said Alu, reclaiming his composure and seizing the blade from Katherine's grasp. “The strength of your celestial bond is most impressive. Never before has anyone broken free from the barriers of my realm, nor has anyone seen me as I truly am when enshrouded in shadows. My lord's Indigo, it is time we abandon this venture and cut our losses.”

Justin sighed, rubbing at his neck. “Sadly I must agree. Well Katherine, here we are. I suppose you want to tell me that it's over between us. Such a shame…”

“Not by a long shot,” she replied, her fists raised before her cheeks.

“Although I'm somewhat eager to further learn more about your capabilities…, I have other places to be,” he said, heading for the door. “A new world cannot be built in one day.”

Anzu bustled forward to prevent his escape, but the masked Corrupted swiftly intervened and put his remaining strength to the test. The guardian raised himself up on his hind legs, blocking the masked Corrupted's many swipes and jabs before countering with his wings. As Alu reeled from Anzu's attack, he placed his blade firmly before what remained of his porcelain mask and replicated himself in a way reminiscent to that of his lord's own ability. Clones weaved of shadow swiftly emerged and dispersed themselves all over the office space, setting about to besiege Anzu. Despite the guardian's brave efforts to avert the clone's advances, the fight continued and Alu eventually drew Anzu's blood. With his body aching and his energy drained, Anzu felt his confidence wane, and soon found himself on the back foot.

“Your situation is hopeless,” the masked Corrupted pointed out, darting toward the wall and dragging his gloved fingers across it. “If you can't even defeat me, then you haven't a chance if you were to challenge my lord.”

Once he withdrew from the wall, those same conjured and gangling arms weaved of shadows tried to wrap themselves around Anzu and Katherine. As the slithering arms of shadow and the many ghoulish clones closed in about them, Anzu shared a brief glance with Katherine before there was an abrupt burst of growing embers. Anzu and his Indigo channelled their energy, sharing in what strength he still had; he felt the warm embrace of her element writhing up and about his body, engulfing him within a strong turret of fire and flame. With Katherine seeking to sustain the fire's intensity, Anzu leapt forward and rushed the masked Corrupted.

Alu roared, the veneer of his mask split in two, and his shadow figure lost its shape. “It can't be…what have you done?”

As Anzu charged in waves, Alu's body collapsed inward upon itself from beneath the weight of his broken mask. His deteriorating body began to stain the carpet until it formed a cesspool of black muck.

With his fire's burning low and his breathing heavy, Anzu slumped down on his belly next to the sludge and peered down at it afraid the Corrupted might revive. But once the scent of this ghoulish Corrupted's energy had disappeared for good, he let out a long sigh of relief, and began to crawl toward his Indigo.

Katherine smiled, collapsing alongside him. “Anzu, we did it.”

“We did, but we've still much to do,” he said, sensing this was far from over. “But we can take a great deal of pride in this victory.”

“We've both come so far in such a short time, but you're right. We still have a long way to go,” she replied, straining to reclaim her feet. “Right now, Monica needs medical attention, and we need to find a way to help the others.”

It felt as if his body was screaming once he eventually raised himself up off the floor. With Katherine already working at freeing Monica from her bindings, he stumbled over to help David Heathgate. Covered from head to toe with grime, the principal was a right mess, and it took all of Anzu's self-control not to gag.

The principal spluttered, his senses somewhat returned. “Anzu…, where am I? And what is that smell?”

While tending to Monica, Katherine turned to Anzu. “Do you know what happened to Gavin and Aleisha?”

“I do…,” said Anzu, not sure how to even begin explaining what he'd seen in the masked Corrupted's realm. “If you can help me prop Monica up on my back, I'll take her to see Walter.”

She frowned back at him. “How is that going to work? You can barely move.”

“She's right,” they heard Aleisha murmur in agreement. “Let us take care of the rest; you've both done more than enough.”

Gavin wrapped a blanket about the principal's shoulders. “Here you go. You're safe now.”

“How did you manage to escape? I thought we might have lost you for good.”

As she attended to Monica's many injuries, Aleisha glanced up at Anzu. “I can't really explain it; we simply awoke in the middle of the corridor from what felt like a deep sleep. But once we saw what remained of the Corrupted upon the floor, we figured it was you who'd set us free.”

“This must mean all his spells were broken upon his defeat,” he replied, before he noticed the puffiness of Gavin's eyes. “Have you been crying?”

The operative sighed, moving to attend to the guardian's own injuries. “I have. And there is no shame in admitting it. For a moment I had it all; I was a professional basketball player, surrounded by scantily clad women, and owned a luxurious hilltop mansion. I even had my very own bobble head doll.”

“I understand what you mean, it was certainly tempting to accept his proposal,” said Anzu, laughing, and thinking back upon his own experience. “For I found myself soaring through the skies of Atlantis, and I've never felt anything quite like it before.”

“Katherine…? Monica whispered. “Did you defeat the Reaper?”

“We did,” Katherine and Anzu replied in unison.

While his Indigo smiled back at him, stroking her hand through his mane of feathers, he thought about their bond.
I was right to choose you as my Indigo, and I have faith you will continue to grow
, Anzu reflected with conviction.

As he gazed into her eyes, he could sense he was that much closer to achieving his dream. The longer his eyes lingered upon her own, the more he genuinely believed that one day they would be the pair to defeat Namtar; that they were the ones that would eventually free this world of the Corrupted. His dream, one of which he'd dreamt for seventeen years, was closer to becoming a reality.