In All of Infinity (21 page)

Esme sat beside Reverie on the bed, feeling
tears escape her eyes. She wasn’t sure she could speak for a
minute, didn’t know if she wanted to. Would Reverie disappear if
she did? She didn’t know, and not knowing always scared her. The
moment should have been perfect, since she had waited so long, but
it was the exact opposite. It was wrong. Esme had met her daughter
again at the end, and couldn’t help thinking that she had been
present at her beginning. It wasn’t fair!

“Darling, I need you wake up,” she said,
taking Esme’s hand in her own. She let out another sob, remembering
how small her daughter’s hand was those years ago. Knowing what she
had to do, she took a deep breath, and pulled her hand away from
her daughter’s. “I need you to wake up.”

Esme took the back of her hand and slapped
Reverie, who turned her head and moaned but didn’t wake up. With a
heavy sigh, Esme slapped her again. Reverie opened her eyes and
stared at Esme, wondering who she was and why her cheek was
hurting. Had this woman slapped her? Why? Who was this woman and
why did she look so familiar? There were so many questions running
around in her mind, but she could only manage a yawn.

“What’s with the collar?”

Esme grabbed hold of Reverie’s chin and
forced her mouth open. She pulled a small vial of black fluid from
her pocket and poured it into her daughter, tears streaming down
her face, and released her. Before Reverie could overcome the
stringent taste, almost like licorice, the door opened and Luella
rushed in. She stared from daughter to mother, eyes full of
rage.

The fluid reached Reverie’s stomach and she
felt pain unlike anything she had ever experienced. She opened her
mouth to speak, but black goo poured out of her mouth, staining her
chin and dripping onto her dress. Reverie fell back, her eyes
rolling to the back of her skull while her entire body succumbed to
spasms.

“I’m sorry, darling,” Esme cried. “I had no
other choice.”

Luella rushed to Esme, grabbing her throat.
She began squeezing with both hands, and then opened her mouth
until it was the only feature on the lower half of her face.
Instead of normal teeth, they were all sharp and ready to tear
flesh. Esme’s eyes remained opened, ready for the inevitable, but
it never came. Gasping for air, Luella pulled away, releasing Esme,
and tried to breathe. She fell to the floor with her eyes wide but
seeing nothing.

“Mother?”

Esme turned, holding her throat, and saw her
daughter seated on the bedside. Her chin and dress were covered
with the black fluid, and her eyes were darker than any moonless
night. Esme realized with a shudder that she had ended her
daughter’s life, replacing her with a monster of darkness.

Although the collar she wore fell to ground,
giving her freedom to use her powers, Esme knew she would be unable
to do anything. Reverie didn’t need a collar; she didn’t need an
army or allies; and that was because she could do it all. As if to
prove her assumption, the sun was replaced by a large dark moon
that cast a gray light through the sky. Esme realized with a sigh
that the dreaded night was upon them.

“Yes, darling?”

“I think we need to talk,” Reverie said and
pat the bed beside her. “We have a lot to catch up on. From now on,
please call me...”

Before she could finish, she threw her head
back. Esme could tell that she was fighting and knew immediately
that Reverie was attempting to return. Without breathing, Esme
waited, regretting that she had ever attempted to kill her own
flesh and blood. Hadn’t there been good intentions? Hadn’t Esme
been given the ingredients from a trusted source, and then made it
herself? Why hadn’t the poison ended her daughter’s life so that
evil couldn’t take over the continent? Why was she becoming
corrupted? Had Esme underestimated the powers that had been
bestowed upon Reverie at birth? Was daughter more powerful than
mother?

Reverie looked at Esme, the darkness having
won for now. “Call me Oblivia.”

Esme wiped tears from her eyes. “Yes,
Oblivia. Of course. I will do anything you say.” She approached her
daughter and sat beside her. Although she tried to stare into her
daughter’s eyes, she trembled and settled instead on her hands.
“Where do you want us to begin? We do have a lot to catch up
on.”

***

When the riders saw the dark moon, their
mirth faded and was replaced by foreboding whispers. Some of them
realized that they were running out of time, since it was that the
Black Moon “tomorrow night” suddenly became “tonight.” Windrew
could sense there was a more powerful darkness than he had
previously believed, since Luella had never been able to manipulate
the universe. He didn’t address it with anyone else, but Anekaya
realized it and Isaac, who saw their tension, sensed it as well. He
felt as if the end was coming and his steed, Grimshaw, wasn’t
moving as fast as he could. Isaac became bitter at the night wind,
at the moon, and anyone who so much as tried to speak to him.
Grimshaw felt his rider’s anxiety, but knew the mortal wouldn’t
listen to him, so he kept to himself. Since he was the most
talkative, such a task was hard to do.

“We’re here,” Windrew announced.

As they emerged from the clouds, they looked
down on Auzeil with amazement. Although the darkness was all around
it, the ivory palace near the water was pristine and beautiful
beyond words. The shimmer on the river caught Isaac’s attention for
a second, because it caught the reflection of the moon, and he knew
he must ready himself for battle. With wind blowing through his
hair, he drifted towards the lead beside Windrew.

The palace soldiers weren’t expecting them
to come from above nor where they expecting to see them so soon.
While the archers readied their arrows, the regiment of horses
began descending. Isaac held his hand on his sword, ready for
everything. As Grimshaw soared over one of the palace walls, Isaac
delivered a fatal strike to the nearest soldier, beheading him.

Once they descended, Isaac jumped off and
looked around him, suddenly surrounded by soldiers who didn’t speak
but to grumble. He could see their malicious faces clearly, but
knew their intentions without having to see them. As he looked to
the moon, he knew there wasn’t time for him fight them.

“Go!” Windrew ordered. “I’ve got this! You
know where it’s going to be, right?”

Isaac ran off without answering, hearing
battle cries all around him. He knew some were following him but
didn’t care. He cut through the ones blocking his way, hearing
their screams as his blade severed vital organs. As if he were led
by an invisible force, he stormed down a flight of stone steps
merely yards away and saw a thick door that looked as if it were
there for show. Where could it possibly lead? Inside the wall? He
went through it, hearing yells behind him and two missed attempts
with arrows that slammed into the door.

Once he was inside, he braced the door with
a piece of wood that looked as if it had fallen off a tree due to
deterioration instead of being cut down. Surprisingly, the wood was
sufficient enough.

When he turned around, he saw that there
were four entrances like the one he’d come through. They were all
consumed by darkness because of the low ceilings, while, in the
center of the room, was a perfectly square and smooth platform
doused in light. He saw two groups of people seated on the left and
right of the platform from where he entered. One group was dressed
in black while the other was dressed in black. Although Isaac had
never really met them, he knew who they were: servants of the
prophecy. As he stepped closer, pausing outside the platform, he
realized there was no ceiling above it—at least, not one he could
see.

“It is too late.”

Isaac turned and saw a woman dressed in a
hooded gray cloak, a large necklace around her neck with a golden
circle centerpiece that held a blue sapphire in the center. He
noticed two things about the sapphire: it was glowing and wasn’t
being held in place by anything but air.

He heard someone entering and turned,
looking towards the opposite side of the room, knowing Reverie was
there before he saw her. She walked up the steps to the platform
and he realized what she was wearing. It was a hooded cloak that
was black on one side and white on the other. She held a white and
black stone in the opposite hand that represented the sides of the
outfit.

As she stood there, the servants of the
prophecy began chanting. The rhythm intoxicated and enchanted him
as he listened to the smooth flow of words that hadn’t been spoken
in ages. All the while, he stared at Reverie, sensing it was her
without seeing her face. He didn’t know why he couldn’t move,
didn’t want to move.

Two servants stepped up and removed her
hood, and she raised her head to stare across the platform. Isaac
realized that her hair had been cut short, which made her neck even
more graceful. With a gasp and a shudder, he noticed that her eyes
were black, and knew that something terrible had taken place. Where
was Luella?

The woman in gray stepped onto the platform,
walked around Reverie, and positioned her feet inside the circle at
the back. Although there were four circles to fill, one
representing good; one representing evil; and two representing the
combination of both, Reverie stepped up and stood in the center. As
soon as they were all positioned, a stream of pale light poured
down on them.

“Reverie,” Isaac could only manage to say
her name. He couldn’t say anything more, but that was enough to
rattle something in her. She shook free from her possessor and
looked at him, her eyes blue once more. “Reverie?”

Reverie acknowledged him and looked around
her, terrified. She didn’t know where she was or what had happened
the last time she’d been conscious of her actions. As she stared at
Isaac, all dark thoughts escaped her. Before she could smile, the
light streaming down on her became black. She threw her head back,
screaming. Isaac rushed up and tried to reach his hand inside the
light, but it burned him.

“Get in the circle!”

He looked around and realized Windrew had
found a way into the temple through another door and was rushing
over. Without asking him what he meant, Isaac rushed to the circle
that represented evil and a light consumed him. He turned towards
Reverie, whose light had returned normal and saw that she was no
longer screaming. As a smile formed on his face, the light extended
all around the platform and he closed his eyes.

***

When he opened his eyes again, he realized
they were still standing on the platform but it was in the depths
of the cosmos. In front of them, almost as large as planets
themselves, were three heads that looked neither masculine nor
feminine. He knew they were the Ancient Ones.

“How is the balance?” the one in the center
asked.

Isaac realized they were standing in a line,
with him on one end and Reverie on the other, separated by the
woman in gray, Esme. He looked around him, spotting the planet that
held the Cathene Continent over his left shoulder. He thought that
it had never looked so beautiful.

“The balance is unstable,” Esme
answered.

“Very well, Second Summoner. What must be
done to restore it?”

“We need to restore the continent’s virtues.
The darkness is too great,” Esme said with certainty. She looked at
Reverie, a few tears falling down her cheeks. “I fear that it has
gone so far as to consume my daughter, when I tried to…”

“We will be able to restore the continent.
It is why we exist. We cannot do anything for your daughter,” the
head to the left stated without emotion. “She is lost to us, but
there is something more powerful that can save her.”

“What?”

Even though Isaac hadn’t asked, he was
anticipating the answer. They never gave it. Instead, the third
head that was directly in front of him looked at him and asked, “Do
you feel there is a need for another Summoner?”

“Who do you have in mind?”

They were pleased with his answer, though
Esme looked at him as if he’d thrown a rock at them. Before she
could state her disapproval, they saw a white trail of light emerge
from the platform and trail across space at an alarming speed. From
a distance, they saw someone dressed in black walk towards them,
and then suddenly appear on the platform.

“Manny!” Esme exclaimed. She held her hand
to her heart. “I—”

“I told you once that I’d find you. I’m a
man of my word.” He walked towards her, reaching through the light
to hold head in his hands. She was crying, so he wiped her tears
away with his thumbs. “And, I hope you don’t mind, but… they chose
me as the First Summoner.”

“No,” she managed, leaning into his embrace.
He inhaled deeply, taking in her familiar scent, the one he’d
longed for, jasmine. “I don’t.”

“Consider the balance restored,” the Ancient
Ones declared.

With an even brighter flash of light, they
were back inside the temple. As the light diminished, Isaac tried
to adjust his eyes. Once they did, he saw Reverie lying sprawled
out on the platform. He rushed to her, knelt beside her, and found
her skin cold to the touch. Windrew walked over and stood beside
the steps, watching his friend hold the queen of his heart.