Mortal (22 page)

Kara watched in silence as the shadow
mist rolled through the crowds, sucked out their souls, and left
them like broken shells. Their expressions became sullen, and Kara
knew they would sicken and die without their souls—just like her
mother.

The shadow mist flowed their way. In a
minute or two it would be upon them.

"We cannot stay here for very long,"
said Gideon. He hit his staff three times on the cement sidewalk.
"I don’t want that nasty thing near me."

Kara glanced at her watch: 3:05
p.m.

Where were David and the others? She
wasn’t that late, David would surely have waited for
her?

"Well, I must say things have changed
since the last time I was up here." Gideon’s eyes bulged as he
stared at the billboards and skyscrapers. "These tall buildings
weren’t there in my days." He poked his fingers in his ears. "And
it’s very loud!"

Kara felt sorry for Gideon.
42
^nd
street must be quite a contrast to his solitary world. She
looked up at the sky. It was snowy, overcast and grey. Normally
Kara would have thought this was beautiful, but the darkening sky
meant that it would soon be dark—the warlock was going begin his
ritual.

Her heart raced.

"The warlock has been busy here," said
Gideon, watching the crowds like Kara. "We’ve already lost more
souls than I can count—terrible business this is, just
terrible."

A dark grey cloud moved unnaturally
fast towards the city. Sundown was rapidly approaching—and Kara
still had no idea how to defeat the warlock.

"We must act quickly," said Gideon and
shook her out of her trance. "He will begin his ceremony at
sundown. We will defeat the dark warlock together."

She looked at the old man. "But how?
If he’s as powerful as you say he is, how can we do it?"

"Just as the witches and
witch doctors have done before. We must join our strengths
together. I will do what I can—but it is
you
who must defeat him. I am not as
powerful as you. Your powers are the key to his destruction. It’s
the only way, Kara."

Kara shifted nervously.

"These powers of mine as not as simple
to conjure as you think. As a guardian angel I got used to them,
and after a while I was able to control them. But now, in this
body, I’m a complete mess. It’s like I’ve forgotten how to do it.
They’re different somehow."

The old witch doctor smiled warmly.
"That’s normal. It’s just harder to channel your power as a mortal
than a spirit walker. Humans are born with a barrier that keeps
them from being in touch with the other supernatural planes. They
live on one plane only, while witches and warlocks can access all
the planes and get power from each of them."

Gideon looked at Kara. "But you’re
unique. You’re more sensitive to the different planes—like a witch,
but differently, in a more organic way. Your use of the earth’s
energies. Your power is in the earth. You were born with the
ability to summon it. Ya just need to focus harder on channeling
it. Didn’t Olga teach ya how to channel your power? She gave ya her
pendant."

Kara looked to the ground. She
couldn’t meet his eyes.

"There’s something I haven’t told you
about Olga." She told him how the dark warlock had found them out
and killed Olga. When she was finished she looked up, but Gideon
had turned his back and was silent. She wished she could have saved
the old witch. Perhaps she should have tried harder.

"Kara!"

Kara turned towards the voice. Her
heart tried to jump out of her chest.

David squeezed through the
crowded sidewalk. His radiant smile sent butterflies into her
stomach. She felt weak at the knees. His dazzling angel skin was
hard to look at. She did her best to suppress her emotions and to
act normally. She rolled her leather bracelet around in her
fingers. It
had
brought her luck.

"Sorry we’re late," said David as he
planted himself at her side. He went to grab her hand, but stopped
and raked his hair instead. He looked to the ground awkwardly.
"Someone messed up back at CDD and Vega’d us to 48th street instead
of 42nd."

Jenny appeared seconds later and
smiled when she saw Kara.

"And we’ve been trying to avoid
touching the weird green mist that’s all over the city," she
continued. "I know we’re in our M-suits, but I still don’t trust
it."

"Hey watch it!" She yelled at a man
who had knocked into her. She steadied her bow and quiver behind on
her back.

Kara searched over their heads.
"Where’s Peter?"

Jenny’s smile disappeared. "He...he
had to stay a little longer in the Healing-Xpress than the rest of
us. Peter was really in bad shape."

Jenny’s voice cracked. "They say it’s
a miracle his soul survived the jump back to Horizon. They’ll have
to grow back his angel legs." She wrinkled her brow as she stared
at Kara’s pants. "What happened to you? You’re covered in
blood!"

Kara tried to brush it off. "It’s
nothing, just a few giant warlock rats and big ugly
spiders."

"What warlock rats?" David leaned in
and inspected her. "Are you still hurt? What about those headaches
and nose bleeds?"

Kara avoided his eyes. "No more
headaches, actually—Gideon helped me out."

Gideon turned at the mention of his
name. They all noticed the old witch doctor for the first time.
Jenny laughed softly to herself.

"Who’s grandpa?" said David
raising his brows as he stared at the fur cloak. "I’m pretty sure
Broadway is that way, old man. I believe they’re doing a new
version of
Cats
."

"I don’t like your tone,
spirit walker," said Gideon. He frowned, and then he moved his
fingers in the air as though he was doing some wacky sign language
to fight off the evil spirits. "Yes, I know what you are. I might
not have the magic of a warlock, but I can still see through
your
veil. Ya should show
more respect to the living. This is
our
realm."

"Look who’s talking," snickered David.
"You look about to kick over anytime—"

"David." Kara glared at him. "This is
Gideon, the one Olga told me to look for. He’s a witch doctor, and
I owe him my life. We need his help on this mission."

David leaned closer to Kara. "What
happened to you after we were separated?" He looked into Kara’s
eyes. "Tell me."

After she had explained what had
transpired in the tunnels, David’s demeanor quickly changed. He
patted the witch doctor on his fur jacket. "Well, at least you’re
on our side, gramps." He made a face and picked some fur from his
fingers.

Gideon’s eyes widened, and he backed
away from David, clearly not happy to have been touched by a spirit
walker. He did some more signing with his fingers towards David.
Then he said, "The shadow mist is approaching, we must leave
now."

A shadow passed over Manhattan and
Kara knew that time was running out.

Kara stared at her watch. "It’s 3:15.
Sundown is at exactly 4:39. That gives us just about an hour and a
half to find Cleopatra’s Needle—and by some miracle defeat the Dark
warlock."

"Any ideas how we’re going to do
that?" asked David.

Kara shrugged. "I guess it’ll come to
me when we find this place."

"But where do we begin?" said Jenny
looking nervous. "New York is one of the biggest metropolises in
the world, how are we supposed to find Cleopatra’s Needle? And what
the heck is it anyway?"

"That’s simple," interrupted Gideon.
"It’s an ancient monument of incredible power. And it’s in Central
Park."

K
ara stared at the old man dumbfounded. "Central
Park?"

"That’s what I said," said Gideon in a
nonchalant way. He leaned on his staff.

David and Kara shared a
look. "Can you give more information, Gramps? Like—where it is in
Central Park? You know how
big
the park is?"

The witch doctor turned and pointed
eastward. "It’s the obelisk in Central Park. There is only one and
quite easy to find."

"So...what is this obelisk?" asked
Kara.

The witch
doctor squared his shoulders. "The ancient artifact was
commissioned by Pharaoh Thutmosis III around 1450 BC in celebration
of his 3rd jubilee or the 30th year of his reign. Two of these
obelisks were constructed and around 13 or 12BC—I can’t remember
exactly—they were transported from Heliopolis to Alexandria. The
Khedive of Egypt separated the pair in the late 19th century. He
sent one to London and another to New York City, both in exchange
for aid in modernizing his country."

Kara was speechless. She had had no
idea that something so old and precious was in a New York City
park.

"It has its own primeval power,"
continued Gideon. "It is extremely dangerous. Think of it as a
giant electrical transformer. The warlock will use the obelisk to
amplify his power. It will make him a hundred times more
powerful."

"Great, that’s just what we needed,"
said David.

Gideon ignored David and looked to
Kara more intensely. "He will use the obelisk’s power to summon his
minions at sundown today, the winter solstice. If we don’t stop
him—nothing pure or good will remain on earth."

"You’re just full of joy, grandpa."
David looked at Kara. "We’ll get there faster if we grab a
cab."

Kara nodded. "You’re right. Let’s grab
a cab."

David jumped to the side of the street
and hailed a yellow cab. Gideon refused to sit next to the spirit
walkers and he climbed in the front passenger seat. He was
oblivious to the strange looks the cabby was giving him. The cab
smelled strongly of cigarette smoke and dirty socks. David’s leg
brushed up against Kara’s, and the blood rushed to her face. From
the corner of her eye she could see him staring, but she kept
looking straight.

"Central Park, please," she said. She
could feel her ears burning. "Uh—near the obelisk?" Kara wasn’t
sure the driver would know what Cleopatra’s Needle was or where it
would be.

The cab driver turned on his meter. "I
know where that is. It’s that tall pointy thing. I’ll drop you off
on the corner of 81st Street and Fifth Avenue. You can see it from
there."

They all scrambled into the
cab just as a tidal wave of green mist surged down
42
^nd
street and engulfed everyone out in the open.

The cab ride was longer than Kara had
anticipated. Traffic was congested. By the time they had arrived at
81st Street, and David had paid for the fare, Kara’s chest was
about to explode from nerves. She felt electrified.

4:03 pm. They had approximately half
an hour left. Her insides churned, and she fought to control her
panic.

Kara turned towards the enormous park.
The metal benches and wrought iron gates that lined the outer walls
of the park were blanketed in snow. It was a winter wilderness
steps away from the busy city. And through the trees in the
distance stood the giant obelisk in all its splendor. It looked
more like a giant pencil than a needle.

Thunder rolled in the distance. It was
loud and unnatural for this time of year. Darkness was quickly
approaching. The carpet of green fog that covered the city would
soon reach Central Park.

They started down the snowy pathway.
Kara stopped and turned. "Gideon? Are you coming?"

The witch doctor stood by the metal
gates and rang some of the bells on his belt. His expression was a
mixture of determination and fear. "There is a great evil here. We
must be vigilant—the dark warlock knows we are here. It’s too late
to hide from him now—he has seen us—he is watching us right
now."

"Well that’s just great," grumbled
David.

Gideon raised his staff. "We are about
to enter the warlock’s lair. Be on your guard, spirit walkers, he
will strike at us hard. May the stars help us."

Kara walked towards Gideon. "Then we
will fight him face to face, and do our best."

She couldn’t shake the feeling that
they were walking into a trap.

Suddenly the old man grabbed Kara’s
hand. His icy fingers were as strong as iron, and Kara couldn’t
pull away. He shook his staff, and his bells rang
hypnotically.

Images suddenly started to play inside
Kara’s head—cities burning; creatures of the darkness roaming the
streets; demons sprouting up from the Netherworld; howls of dying
mortals as demons and warlock creatures join forces to massacre
them; warlocks at the head of government; demons enslaving,
chaining and whipping humans; forests burning—the earth charred and
barren like a desert.

Kara became conscious of the bells
again, and then the images faded.

Kara shook free from Gideon’s grip.
"What...what was that?"