Shadow's Dangers (36 page)

I searched my memory and remembered it was their God. His explanations weren't very clear, actually and I was mostly focused on the contents of the prophecy at that time.

“A little,” I finally admitted.

Leighton breathed a long sigh.

“Gosh, did Garreth think to use his lips other than to perform mouth-to-mouth on you? For example, to explain what is awaiting you?” she said, a tad exasperated.

I couldn't help but blush when I heard her comment.

“He told me many things,” I added, feeling obliged to defend our actions. “But he didn't dwell on that, that's all.”

“You bet he didn't...” she muttered with a wry smile. “The Everything is the entity that you could compare to a deity. But for us, it's not. We respect it, but we don't pray to it, don't give offerings to it and all the things you do for your human Gods. We have all seen
Vergashae
and many
Enimae
saw the Everything when they came to Earth in their fused form.”

“‘They?’ Their fused form?’ I'm not sure I understand. I thought it was one entity, not several.”

“This is one,” she said pointing to the book, “but they are two.”

I sent her a confused look, which made her laugh.

“Granted, it's not very clear. In fact, they are two separate beings, a man and a woman, when they are in
Vergashae,
but when they come to Earth, they form only one being, merging their energy and substance because unlike us, they can't come here in the same way and don't stay here long. Hence the name, ‘the Everything.’ Because in addition to doing all that, they are the ones who created
Vergashae
and our other worlds with their energy and substance, and they abandon a part of themselves to give us life and allow us to reincarnate again and again.”

I was fascinated by her story. Seeing that my curiosity was piqued, Leighton smiled and turned the pages until she found what she wanted. She handed the book to me so I could discover the next picture. It seemed to be of a human being, but with half male, half female features. He had huge wings made of dark brown feathers, long white hair like snow, piercing yellow eyes that resembled those of an animal, grayish skin with small black spots here and there, two fangs and a black forked tongue like that of a snake escaping his lips. He was surrounded by a sort of halo of all colors, just like what happened when Garreth had changed his appearance.

“Looks like some kind of...angel,” I commented, captivated by the representation and finding no other word to express my feelings.

Leighton smiled.

“Many legends actually come from our people and culture. The myth of the angels are based on the Everything and some of our appearances have inspired stories about Hindu and Egyptian deities. Your human stories were invented because men and women have witnessed the manifestation of our gifts--seen us change form. That's how the stories of satyrs, dragons, vampires, centaurs, dwarfs, werewolves and so on were born. Obviously, there is no evidence of all that, but I tend to believe it.”

I was speechless, my eyes round as saucers.

“Seriously?” I couldn't help saying, still stunned.

“Yes. Take the picture you looked at just now, that of the bucentaure. According to what was said by one of us, humans there that evening would have confounded the animal with a half-man, half-horse appearance. They told those around them he was a centaur, instead of a bucentaure. The rumor of his existence would have spread from country to country, introducing all to the myth of the centaur, when in fact it wasn't even one.”

It was both disturbing, fantastic and scary to think that such creatures had in fact existed, even if they had nothing to do with the stories narrated to me.

“Okay...this is... Wow,” I concluded stupidly, unable to say anything clever.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time I ridiculed myself in front of Leighton. She might have been used to it now. As if to confirm it, she smiled sweetly at me without any mockery in her eyes or expression, when she would have the complete right to make fun of me.

“I thought that you'd like it. I wonder why Garreth never told you about it,” she said, raising her eyes before me and smiling, mischievously. “Oh, I forgot how he became distracted,” she added before finishing her sentence with a wink.

This time, even though I was embarrassed by the implication, I wasn't ashamed.

“I must confess that I thought if I brought you this book, you would see the effects of our existence on humans, and you'd be better able to accept your role in this war. We can't let the insurgents reveal our existence to the world, Deliah. The fear that humans would have due to our differences would cause an atrocious war. I also thought it might help you find the right way to put an end to the confrontation between my people. Garreth and others are convinced your mission is to kill rebels; I think it can be very different. After all, even if I haven't seen the prophecy with my own eyes, it doesn’t expressly state that you will kill, only that you'll stop them. We can stop people without killing them, right?”

She had my full attention now and this book became a lot more interesting all of a sudden. If there was a way to stop this ancient struggle, to prevent other families like ours from being destroyed, and without becoming a murderer myself, I was ready to find it and do whatever was necessary.

“Don't get me wrong, but how can these drawings help me?” I asked her.

“We need you to understand that these aren't just sketches, but tales. Or rather stories since all these images actually occurred. I thought that by examining them, something could trigger something in you.”

“What are you talking about?”

She suddenly seemed embarrassed, a very rare thing coming from Leighton. It took her awhile to find the proper explanation.

“We,
Enimae
, we rely heavily on our instincts, either to sense danger or to make a decision. You're not one of us, but I'm sure you are like us in some aspects. Anyway, you possess what it takes to stop this carnage, otherwise the
Kegramae
wouldn't have chosen you.”

I winced slightly, perceiving the word “carnage,” even if appropriate. I meditated on her words. I actually relied much on my intuition, but here, it was different. We were talking about lives. Hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions for what I knew. Panic came again because now, I knew that the fate of many people was in my hands. Me, Deliah Morgan, a seventeen year-old, human...how I came to possess a power so large was absurd, especially since no one knew its true nature.

“Now, look at this so you can reproduce it, once you're alone.”

I watched Leighton who was holding open the book and turning the pages until the moment she saw a painting apparently representing a battlefield with a huge blaze in the middle of it. At least that was what I thought before I focused my attention on the fighters. There weren't only men and women but also animals--different from those that could be seen in the human world. The strangest thing was that each stared at the fire with a mixture of surprise, curiosity and even fear. By looking more closely, I noticed a man or rather the
Kegramae
--considering his gigantic wings--in the flames.

“Why is the
Kegramae
burning?” I questioned her.

“It's not him. This is our
Samae.
His name is
Jekrae,
which translates to the ‘Invincible.’ His intervention with this appearance allowed him to stop this battle. And guess what? He didn't have to pay a single drop of blood for that,” she said enthusiastically

I wanted to rejoice with her, to know more about this person with the unpronounceable name who had succeeded in his mission without killing anyone. However, a sharp pain suddenly invaded my head and I was unable to speak. The throbbing was so intense that for a few seconds, I couldn't move or think or even remember where I was. As quickly as it came, the suffering went away abruptly.

“You okay, Deliah?” Leighton asked me, visibly worried.

I nodded slowly, unable to answer. I didn't know where the ache came from, but I hadn't felt something like that since Leighton had removed my mental barriers. From the corner of my eye, I saw her turn the pages furiously to show me a new drawing.

“I think it's best that you only activate the stories that are...”

“Activate?”

“Deliah!” Leighton exclaimed impatiently. “Let me finish before asking questions.”

I gave her an apologetic look, but remained silent.

“I thought it would be better if you only activate the drawings that look less...violent. I don't want you to be shocked or traumatized by the realism of a battle. That's why I suggest you start this way. With your finger, touch all the letters in a clockwise direction until you get back to the original position. And, of course, without interrupting the contact with the paper before you have finished. Is that clear?”

I nodded. Even if I was ignorant of the meaning of these gestures, I got the procedure.

“Now look at what I'm gonna do.”

She put her finger on the writing along the two pages of the painting of a landscape where everything seemed cold--the ground, the trees with no leaves, only glittering fruits, and a type of huge temple in the background. Everything seemed frozen, apart from the water fountain on one of the pages and the sky lit up by what appeared to be an endless aurora borealis with thousands of colors. When she finished, the scene seemed to come to life on paper. The water of the fountain began to flow and a figure materialized gradually in the middle. The colors in the sky literally danced, changing constantly and reflecting everywhere because of the ice. I backed away in front of this inexplicable phenomenon. Leighton looked at me, an amused smile playing on her lips because I might have looked totally frightened.

The day Garreth asked me to go out with him, I saw his drawing move, but it wasn't as surprising. But here, the painting was so realistic that when everything moved, it frightened me. Especially after realizing that this place was
Vergashae.
In other words, the place that I once dreamed about, before it turned into a nightmare, was similar to when the Garreth of my subconscious tried to strangle me.

“If that frightens you, wait until you see what's coming next. You'll have a heart attack,” she added, mischievous.

My eyes widened a bit more if that were even possible.

“Because there’s something else?” I croaked, still in shock.

“Come here, next to me. I'll show you.”

I approached her and saw that the scene had stopped moving. Leighton explained how she had stopped, with her finger repeating the same process as before. Suddenly, her weird explanation of activation made sense.

“Now, if you really want to experience the story, you just have to use the same process, but in a counter-clockwise direction.”

She gave me the demo and this time, the scene that I saw coming to life on paper, moments before, came to life in my room. I uttered a cry of both surprise and terror. I wasn't at home anymore, but in the middle of
Vergashae
where sounds of distant laughter, indistinct voices and the sound of the wind blowing strongly echoed in the vast place. Only my bed, which I still found myself on, in the company of Leighton, remained and allowed me to know that this wasn't reality. As quickly as she had given life to this scene, Leighton stopped everything. I, again, found the familiar and reassuring decor of my room, shaken by what I had just experienced. And I had thought that
Enimae
couldn't surprise me anymore, huh?

***

Leighton hadn't stayed much longer after having made the few demonstrations. She let me keep the book, even though I had told her I wasn't sure I wanted to use it. She assured me that I was going to. Before crossing the threshold of my room, she turned around and advised me to always be careful, otherwise I might have a few surprises. I asked her what she meant but she just smiled enigmatically and disappeared.

Leighton was right about me. I finished my homework and tried to sleep after her departure, however curiosity got the better of me and it didn't take long to get a hold of the book in the drawer of my nightstand to find out more. That was why I was examining it page by page without being able to activate any. Even though I was fascinated by all these representations, I was afraid of what I might see if they came to life.

After about thirty minutes of browsing the book, I again found the image of the man in a boat at sea and the woman in the water, clinging to it. I looked carefully at the scene, trying to understand what happened to them. In all that I had seen so far, the paint still showed a dangerous and tragic situation and whenever there was something out of the ordinary, most of the time, it was an animal that seemed straight out of the imagination of someone rather twisted. Here, neither the woman nor the man seemed in danger. While he looked scared, his eyes on her, she was serene. Eager to learn more, I put my finger over the letters and turned it in a clockwise direction, so that the scene would come to life on paper. I held my breath when my finger found itself at the starting location and the colors began to shine before returning to normal. The drawing became animated, making the waves agitated, shaking the boat. Surprisingly, the woman was gone, the man was now alone at sea, his thoughtful eyes fixed on the horizon.

“
Henri...
”

I jumped at the same time as the man on the page. He immediately looked around, eyes wide as ever and I couldn't help but do the same in my room, even though I knew very well that it was deserted.

“
Henri...
” the distant female voice reiterated while the name she spoke repeated in echo, as if it were carried by the wind.

I finally understood and gazed with amazement at the object in my hands. It was in the book that all this took place. The voice was calling the man in the painting. Yet I still saw no one with him and I couldn't admit that the pages of an old book were emitting sounds. I shook my head to put my ideas in place. There was no logic at all when it came to the world of the
Enimae.