Eternity's Edge (7 page)

Kelly pulled Nathan backwards. “You told him to release the supplicants or else.”

“Or else, what?”

“You didn't say.”

Tsayad stalked toward him. As he stretched out his arms, his eyes seemed to burst into flames.

Nathan raised his violin, ready to swing. “Let's see if he understands this composition!”

A loud, shrieking note pierced the air. Tsayad halted and pivoted toward the source. From the gathering around the dome, a white-haired woman rushed their way, shouting in a melodic trill.

Kelly translated. “Allow me to dispose of these dissemblers. They cannot be true supplicants.”

The woman pulled down the neckline of Nathan's sweatshirt, exposing his chest. She sang two quick notes.

“You see?” Kelly echoed.

The woman released Nathan and scowled. As she sang a mocking phrase, she seemed to laugh.

Kelly shuddered. “The grinding stone is too good for them.”

Tsayad's eyes lit up again. “The abyss?” Kelly said, giving words to his musical response.

The woman replied with a single low note. Kelly didn't bother to translate. Apparently the abyss would be their next stop.

“Take this,” Nathan said, pushing the violin into Kelly's hands. “You and Daryl get ready to run.”

The woman snapped her fingers. The two men at the door marched toward them, each one brandishing a transparent rod, like a policeman's nightstick made out of glass.

“Go!” Nathan rushed toward the guards. He dropped low and swept his leg under one of the men, toppling him to the ground. The other guard lunged, his glass rod now pulsing with light. A shrill noise spewed from his weapon, so high-pitched Nathan had to cover his ears to keep his brain from exploding.

With a quick roll, he dodged the guard, but just as he tried to jump to his feet, a burning pain stabbed his back. His limbs stiffened. His teeth clenched. A bone-rattling jolt surged up and down his spine and shot out to his fingers and toes. He tried to gasp for breath, but his lungs felt like stones.

Darkness seeped across his vision, streams of black bleeding through a scene of Kelly and Daryl being led toward him by the white-haired woman. Finally, everything went black. He could still sense his surroundings— smells, pressure on his skin, and sounds— but a harsh ringing in his ears made the garbled notes of the jabbering guardians sound far away.

Strong arms lifted him into the air. Finally able to breathe without pain, he floated comfortably. The familiar feeling of approaching sleep crept in. He tried to shake it away. He had to get down! He had to escape with Kelly and Daryl! But his limbs wouldn't obey. They hung limply, unable to move.

The encroaching sleep flooded his senses. Yet, it seemed to last for only a few seconds. Something prodded his shoulder.

“Wake up, Nathan.”

He blinked until his eyes opened fully. His vision had returned, still dim, but clear enough. Sitting next to him, the girl in the dome smoothed her skirt of crimson cloth over her crossed legs. “Are you hurt?” she asked.

Still lying on his back, Nathan arched and stretched out his arms before propping himself on his elbows to look at her. Wide and worn by tears, her eyes reflected a weariness that cried out for relief. Yet, the furrows etching her brow spelled out a deep compassion that overwhelmed her sorrows.

“No,” he replied. “I think I'm okay.” He looked around at the
dome. The inner glass reflected their bodies, shielding their view of the outside world.

“You are okay now, my beloved.” She laid a hand on his arm. Her face, though as youthful as her petite body, radiated wisdom far beyond her years. “But if you do not awaken soon, you will not be okay. Your rescuer will need your aid.”

“Awaken? What do you mean?”

“You are dreaming, and you need to arouse yourself so that you may help your friends.”

He sat up and blinked again. “Dreaming? But this is so real.”

With thin fingers, she twirled a button at the front of her dress, a tiny white button that fastened a high neckline. “I am real, and this prison is real, but you are not really here. I saw what they did to you. Since we made eye contact, I was able to enter your dream as soon as you lost consciousness.”

Nathan glanced at the mirrored walls. “How could you see me?”

“I am Scarlet. I see many things.” She looked up at the low ceiling. “Behold, the tragedy of lost lives.”

In the curved mirror above, an airliner flying at a ninety-degree angle dropped slowly from the sky. The tip of its wing scraped the ground, sending it into a cartwheel tumble. Finally, it flipped, smashed into a field, and exploded in a huge fireball.

As memory of the searing heat raised prickles along his skin, Nathan shuddered. “I was on that plane … at least for a while. I got off just in time.”

She folded her hands and sighed. “I know. I helped you get off.”

“You helped me? How?”

“You have asked for my help many times, and I, in turn, take your supplications to your ultimate helper. My songs are the prayers you were unable to utter. The answers came in many
ways — a gunman arrested on a bridge; your body shifted to another world just before a bullet pierced your chest while your clothes miraculously changed into a hunter's raiment; you and your friends transported out of a falling car while at another time the entire car went with you; and any number of escapes in the midst of chases, unknown paths, and even violent winds. Such are the miracles of answered supplications.”

“But how does it work? How can you know what's going on all the time?”

She slid closer to him and gazed into his eyes. “It is not wise to waste precious moments explaining the complexities of my ministration while you are dreaming. Soon after you awaken, you will not remember the details, only images … images of me, my habitat, my sorrow. Just remember that you must come back and rescue us, the three seers in the domes. Since you are an Earth Red dweller, you have only a little time. Interfinity is coming, and the fools here have no idea that it will destroy them along with the three Earths.”

She took his hand and caressed his knuckles. “Yet, there is still hope. You, my love, are one of the gifted, and another is searching for you in her dreams. Perhaps we can guide her to a convenient place to meet you. If it is possible to heal the wounds through music rather than through sacrifice, the two of you will have to work together and play the violin in Sarah's Womb. On this possibility rests the future of all the supplicants.”

“Patar mentioned Sarah's Womb. What—”

She pressed a finger against his lips. “No, Nathan. Save your questions.” As she withdrew her finger, her whispered voice took on a sense of urgency. “Arouse yourself now, or you will perish, and the hope of the Earth triad will perish with you. One truth you must remember as you make this journey — the stalkers feed on fear and the dissonance fear creates. If you run from the shadows that haunt your mind, all will be lost.”

“But how will I remember all these things? Like you said, dreams just kind of fade away.”

“I will do what I can to revive your memory.” As she kissed him tenderly on the cheek, her lips trembled. “Someday I hope to anoint your cheek in person, but for now a dream will have to do.”

Her vibrating voice tickled his skin, and the fragrance of roses wafted into his nose. He drank in the sweet sensations. This seemed far too real to be a dream, but he had no choice but to believe. If she said he had to wake up, he had better get to work.

Closing his eyes and clenching his fists, he tried to refocus his mind on reality and strain his senses to tune into his surroundings. After a few seconds, Kelly's voice drizzled into his ears. “He's twitching. Look, he's making a fist.”

Something poked him in the side. “Nathan! Wake up!”

He blinked. This time reality flashed in his eyes. The girl and the domed prison had vanished, leaving only fog and the worried faces of Kelly and Daryl.

Kelly grasped his hand. “Can you get up?”

Nathan surveyed his body. The pain had returned, a hundred aches stabbing him from head to toe. “I'll try.” He pulled on her hand and rose to his feet, teetering for a moment while Kelly and Daryl kept him from falling.

He took in his surroundings, the glassy path and swirls of colored mist all around. A musical note, friendly but firm, made him turn his head. The white-haired woman stood behind them, a serious aspect bending her face downward as she glanced nervously both ways along the path.

Kelly held the camera to keep it from swaying at her chest. “She says we have to hurry. She's really on our side.”

“Our side?”

“Yes, she —”

The woman sang again, rushing through her notes. Kelly
translated with a rapid chatter. “My name is Abodah. If you are truly the healer, I have much to do.”

Nathan reached for the violin and bow tucked at Kelly's side. “I need to ask some questions, like, what is this place? How do I get to the violin in Sarah's Womb? When can I come back and rescue those prisoners?”

The woman laid a firm hand on his arm. She sang again, this time more slowly.

“No need to play music to ask your questions,” Kelly translated. “My mate and I have learned to understand your language, though I cannot yet speak it. He knows the ways of your people, so I suggest that you heed his counsel as he leads you to the places you must go. While you are gone, I will work with the supplicants to ensure that you have a clear path to the instrument, but if playing the healing music fails, rescuing them could well be impossible. Yet, I will see what I can do. Let us have no more questions. It is time for you to go.”

Abodah knelt on the walkway and dipped her hands into the mist. Then, cupping a cloud of all three colors, she straightened and held out her hands. A stream of red mist drifted toward Kelly, while a blue one rose up and floated Daryl's way. Finally, a second red stream lifted from her hands and caressed Nathan's cheek. Soon, all three streams evaporated, leaving only yellow mist in Abodah's hands.

With a quizzical look in her eyes, she sang a brief tune.

“You are not from the same worlds,” Kelly said. “To which one shall I send you?”

Nathan laid a hand against his pounding head. Earth Blue seemed the obvious choice. That's where Clara was waiting for them, and they left the mirror there. They needed that if they were to go anywhere else. “I guess we should go to Earth Blue,” he finally said. “Is that okay?”

Abodah gave him a pleasant smile. She sang once more, and Kelly interpreted, this time speaking the words in song, following
her tune. “That is the easiest option. I will send you back through the door you entered.”

She reached again into the mist and scooped out a handful of blue vapor. Then, singing again, she anointed each of their foreheads with her moistened finger.

“I am marking you for travel,” Kelly said. “The ancient legend has never been tested, but I believe this sign will lead you home.”

She turned toward the opposite side, spread out her arms, and sang a shrill note. The multicolored mist instantly parted, piling up on each edge of the divide. In the gap, a deep gulf plunged into a black void.

Daryl gulped. “Holy Moses!”

Abodah extended her hand toward the chasm as if inviting them to jump. Nathan looked at Kelly, then Daryl, and read fear in their eyes. He stooped and peered into the darkness. “So is it safe to just jump right in?”

Kelly sang Abodah's reply. “It is a leap of faith, to be sure. My mate pursued Mictar through this rift in the cosmos, and one of the supplicants told me that he arrived safely. I assume that you, too, will land without harm.”

“I guess we have no choice.” Nathan retrieved the case from Daryl, repacked the violin, and lined up his toes with the very edge. After what he had been through, leaping into a void seemed like no big deal. And, besides, the quicker he got home, the quicker he could try to solve all the mysteries and figure out a way to rescue Scarlet and the other supplicants.

Kelly took his hand, her eyes as bright as ever as she leaned close and whispered, “I rode on a doomed jet. I can do this.”

Nathan twisted toward Daryl. Wringing her hands against her chest, she slid her feet away from the edge.

“Come on.” He set the violin down and reached for her. “It'll be fine. Kelly and I have been through worse stuff than this.”

She stopped, her eyes wide. “Ever see
Vertigo
?”

He took a step toward her. “Alfred Hitchcock, right?”

“Yep.” Her voice trembled as she leaned away from his reach. “That's me. Crazy scared of heights.”

With a quick lunge, he snatched her wrist. “Then keep your eyes closed and hang on.”

“No!” She jerked away. “I can't. I … I just can't.”

Nathan huffed. Even though Scarlet's words were already fading, her warning about giving in to fear still echoed. He gritted his teeth to keep from shouting. “We can't leave you here, and there's no other way home.” He reached for her again. “This is no time to lose your cool!”

She leaped away and teetered on the opposite edge, her arms flailing. In a flash, Abodah was at her side and pushed her upright with a gentle hand.

As Daryl lowered herself to a shivering crouch, Abodah sang.

“She must go with you,” Kelly translated. “There is little time to lose.” She then whispered to Nathan, “What should we do?”

“We'll have to force her,” he whispered back. “We can't stay. Her going phobic might get us all killed.”

Kelly's voice sharpened. “Give her a break. Isn't there anything that scares you like that?”

“Not that I can think of.” Nathan frowned at his own words. They sounded merciless. Actually, lots of things scared him, but nothing made him lose his nerve like this. And, merciless or not, he had to be tough to get them out of this jam. He lowered his whisper even further. “We can't stand around and wait. You get on one side of her, and I'll get on the other. We'll take her kicking and screaming if we have to.”

“Are you sure?”

“You have another idea?”

She shrugged.

“Then, c'mon.”

While Daryl kept her head tucked low, Nathan crept to her
side. As soon as Kelly stooped at her other side, he grasped Daryl's upper arm and pulled her upright. Daryl tried to twist free, but Kelly held her in place. Tears streaming and her whole body shaking, Daryl looked back and forth at her captors. “Oh, please. Please don't make me go.”