Ascension (13 page)

Laura moved forward, and the equilibrium shifted.  The darkness became more powerful.  The little lights contracted.  She felt a pulse of terror come out from all of them. 

She stopped in place.  Had she done that?  Had she upset the balance somehow?  Carefully, she shifted herself back.  The lights expanded outward instantly, and the darkness shrunk in on itself. 

She
had
done it!  But why?  And how?  What did any of it mean?  She felt like she should know, like she should recognize the place she was at, but her memories were fuzzy.  Thinking of anything in her past was fuzzy. 

She felt an itch between her shoulder blades, as if she were being watched.  She turned around, careful not to disturb the delicate balance of the place.  And for a heartbeat, she saw the panel of glass that separated the abyss she was in from the outside world.  On the other side, she spotted Gabrielle, towering a thousand times larger than her.  The image lasted for a second, and was gone.  She was alone in the darkness.

But the momentary viewing awoke all the memories she had lost.  She knew where she was again, and knew the orbs of light around her were ethereal representations of all humanity.  She was here to find the orbs that belonged to the elders. 

How could she do it?  She could see millions of lights all around her, and any movement she made seemed to threaten to upset the balance that held them in place.  Picking the right ones out of the mass would be more difficult that finding Atlantis in the ocean.

But Gabrielle had told her she could do it based on
need
.  If she felt the need, the right spheres should reveal themselves to her.  She closed her eyes tightly. 
Need
.

Swish
.

She opened her eyes, and knew instantly she had been transported thousands of miles away.  Space was meaningless here, but she felt the spatial difference of where she was.  The stars shining around her were different from the ones before.  There was no order to them, neither here nor earlier, but Laura could tell they were arranged in a different array.  There were still millions of them everywhere she looked.  She closed her eyes again. 
Need
.

Swish
.

This time, she opened her eyes before the movement took place.  It was not
movement
, really – one second she was in one place, and the next, another one far away.  It was as if she had not bothered with the intervening space.  With her eyes open, she saw the blurring of the stars as they sped away and were replaced by new ones.  This time, the stars around here were a little sparser.  She could still see millions of them, of course, but now the spaces between them were a little bigger, a little broader.  Was she getting closer?  Not bothering to close her eyes, she did what she did before.  She felt
need
.

Swish
.

The stars did not blur as they sped away this time.  Instead, Laura was pushed forward with the force of a tidal wave.  She plunged deeper in one direction, where stars became even sparser.  Over to her right, a cluster of them shone with a slightly different intensity than the rest.  She knew that was where she needed to go. 
Need.

Swish
.

The movement of the stars brought her face to face with that cluster.  There were eight stars in total.  They did not share the same bright blue light of the others.  Instead, they were yellowing, and shone only weakly.  Yet the darkness stayed away from them.  Out of respect or fear Laura could not say, but she knew that if any other stars were so weak as these they would have long since disappeared.  And she knew instinctively that those eight stars belonged to the elders.

So, she had found them.  But how to get inside?  She reached out, and immediately the stars scurried away.  Much as the last time she had tried to move.  Darkness moved in, becoming more menacing and looming all at once.  And while it did not move closer to the cluster of eight stars, it had no reservations about pressing in on her.

That was the wrong way to proceed.  Why would she change the method that had got her here already? 
Need
was what brought her here, and
need
would be what let her cross the final distance.  She closed her eyes and focused. 
Need
.

Swish
.

She opened her eyes, expecting to find herself out of the darkness… and was surprised when she was not.  The cluster of stars that she had been by earlier were nowhere to be found.  Alarm started to grip her.  Had she messed up her chance?  Had she done something wrong?  She closed her eyes and focused with all her might. 
NEED!

Swish.

The darkness around her shifted, changing into something… softer.  Less menacing.  She looked around, but couldn’t find the cluster anywhere.  But despite that, she felt oddly at ease.   She was comfortable where she was.  The stars around here were few and far between, but none were close enough to distinguish themselves.  Curiosity got the better of her.  Where was the
torrial
taking her?  She would find out soon. 
Need
.

Swish
.

She came face-to-face with a peculiar star.  It was larger than the others, much heavier, but at the same time, its glow was much gentler.  She could feel its pull tugging at her.  Surely this was not one of the elders’ stars?  No, of course not – she would not feel this way if it were.  From this one came all sorts of happy emotions.  Love and caring, compassion and companionship.  This was not the star of a regular
Vassiz
, much less the corrupt leaders that led the entire race.  Something tickled the back of Laura’s mind.  It was as if she should be able to recognize the star.  Looking at it, she did notice it was familiar, in a way.  But what that way was, and how it was connected to her, she could not place.

She closed her eyes again. 
Need
.

Swish
.

She was back in the denser area of stars.  Back from where she had come from.  Why was she taken to that strange, larger star in the first place?  Then she noticed a pull from behind her, and looked there.  The heavy, peculiar star was right behind her – it had followed her here!  And while that alone should have alarmed her, she felt no threat from it.  In fact, Laura thought that it afforded her protection, somehow.  She closed her eyes again. 
Need
.

Swish
.

She arrived smack in the middle of the elders’ cluster of decaying stars.  Their light pulsed sickeningly, waxing and waning like something rotten.  She looked to either side, around and behind her, and realized the larger star had followed her here as well.  She had not seen any of the other stars move like that.  Why was it trailing her? 
What
was it – and
whose
was it?  She had to find out before entering the elders’ dreams. 
Need
.

Swish
.

Laura came back face-to-face with the larger star again.  She did not move far this time, as there was no need.  The star had followed her all this way.  She felt the good emotions flowing out from it.  She had to find out what it was.  But, how?  Could she peer inside somehow? 
Need
.

This time, there was no swish.  The star simply opened up to her.  She did not get closer, nor did the star get any bigger, but somehow what she saw now took up her entire field of vision.  She was skimming on the surface of the light, looking down into the aura of the being who existed there.

She saw trees.  Thick, dense, trees in a green forest.  Looming evergreens and mountainous ranges extended as far as her eye could see.  It reminded her of the forest back home.  She did a double take.   It
was
the forest from back home!  The one that she and Logan had traveled across.  But she was sure this wasn’t Logan’s star.

The earth below her zoomed closer, so that she could see the ground through the trees.  She spotted a group of men moving through the forest.  They picked their way forth carefully, but aside from their movement, Laura could not see them very well.  They were… blurry.  She could not tell who they were.

Suddenly a loud gunshot blast shattered the silence.  The earth sped one way.  When it stopped, Laura was directly above the source of the blast.  A cry of pain rang out.  A tortured, wailing cry of pure agony.  It was coming from right below her.

The earth shifted even closer and she was looking down from the top of the trees.  She saw another blurry shape below.  She could tell it was a man, big and wide.  Before him lay the still-breathing body of an enormous bear.  Her fur was matted with blood, and her breathing was labored.  Every once in a while another cry of pain escaped her throat, each one weaker than the last.

But that was not what held her attention.  Behind the bear, off to the side and almost invisible in the canopy, was a tiny cub with splotchy silver fur.  It stared up at her with big, scared eyes.  She would have recognized the cub anywhere.  It was Gray!

At that thought the whole image below her blurred.  The colors streaked away, and the lines that made up the shapes dissipated into nothingness.  The colors and lines fled to the edge of her vision, leaving a dark gaping hole in the middle.  And then, ever so slowly, like the painting of a master work of art, the colors and shapes began to stream back.  But they were streaming back to form different shapes.  Laura watched, entranced by the entire process.  Slowly, she saw the formation of a large, furry leg, and then another one, and another, and another.  The legs connected to the bottom of an enormous body, and it was unmistakable whose it was.  Gray’s.

The remainder of his body formed slowly, built up by the colors and lines that came in from the edge of Laura’s vision.  As the process occurred, Laura found herself amazed at how much Gray had changed.  Even since she had left him in the woods three weeks ago, he had grown.  He was so much larger now, so much more mature.  Finally, when the entirety of his body was formed, a light zoomed in from the side to give life to his eyes.  He opened them, and look at her.

Laura couldn’t help but gasp.  There was such knowledge in those eyes.  Gray moved forward, unrestrained now, and tilted his head toward her.  Laura reached out.  But, just as her hand was about to touch his forehead, it went right through, as if moving through mist.  Laura nearly staggered forward.  She yearned to form the connection with Gray, the mind-link that they shared thanks to her unique vampire ability.  But he was not really here – or perhaps, she was not.  It was an illusion created by the
torrial.
  She was not really inside his dream, but looking in from behind a barrier. 

Gray turned around in a tight circle, showing off his matured body.  He really was stunning.  His fur was luscious and thick, and the heavy muscles of his back and legs danced as he moved.  The eloquent grace that he had before had been enhanced even further, so that every move he made looked as if it were perfectly choreographed.  Laura had been sure he was done growing when they said goodbye, but that certainty was now being proven wrong.

Gray tilted his head to one side, looking at her.  It was a peculiar, questioning gaze – but one that Laura had seen from him many times before.  Unfortunately, without being able to form the link, there was no way for her to know exactly what he wanted.

He moved toward her, and Laura started to shake her head, to remind him that they could not physically reach each other.   Then she realized that was not what he was doing.  He came by her, and sat at her side.  Then he turned his head and looked at her expectantly.  He wanted to communicate something.  That he was there for her?

At that thought, everything around her began to swirl.  She felt
affirmation
come in from all directions.  Was that confirmation of what Gray wanted to say?  The colors and lines that made him up swirled and mashed together, leaving nothing in their wake.

Swish
.

Suddenly, Laura was back inside the dark matrix of the globe
torrial
.  Gray’s star shone brightly before her.  She could not see into it anymore.  She turned, and saw the elders’ stars shimmering sickly there.   The
torrial
operated on need, and it had brought her to Gray before bringing her to the elders.  Or maybe Gray had called out to her somehow.  Either way, they had been reunited.  No wonder she felt all those emotions coming from the larger star.  She and Gray were linked by an unassailable bond, and nothing would ever sever it.

She could not waste any more time.  Now, with Gray beside her, she was ready to face the elders.  There were eight of their stars visible in total.  Laura did not know which one she should attack.  But then again, it was not like she had a choice. Every time she tried to move by herself the balance between the darkness and the stars shifted.  The
torrial
itself would decide which elder’s star she would go within.  She closed her eyes, and focused intensely on what she had to do. 
Need
.