Chapter Nine

1

 

     Eternal sleep...a treasure or a pardon of sanity. One has challenged the concept as just that: sleep, but there is no doubt fear seizes rational thought. To embrace delusion and deny ignorance is a human quality that never expires. The unyielding substance they categorize as proof propels fantasy, but even as possibility births theory...there is no hope for fairy tales.

 

     Heather twitched as a storm of agony ravished her conscious. Vaguely aware of the crimson pool spreading out from beneath her she fought against the fog to see a brilliant figure looming in the distance.

 

     "Your sacrifice," the voice said, "was all we needed.  You were always destined to die, but only to be born again."

 

     On spindles of sapphires Heather spied the vision as it glided closer.  She found her limbs in operating order despite having been certain they were broken moments before as she pushed herself up.

 

     "Rise again," Dagger Doll sang. The girl before her had rolled up into a tight ball, but was responding to the softness of her tongue as affection rolled from her glossy lips. "Your former life is in the shadows."

 

     Heather's matted hair clung to her neck as beads of sweat wrung up and popped across her forehead. Her hands clawed the stone behind her, her face pinched as she leaned forward and closed her eyes.

 

     "Now," Dagger Doll continued, "you must pick a door to walk through. I cannot make the choice for you. This is something you have to do on your own, but be aware one pathway leads to certain death while the other promises great reward at the end of it venture. Time is not on your side however. You must choose or perish."

 

     Heather's stare was level with hers for a moment before wavering and settling off in the distance where she thought she saw something stagger in the relentless fog. Her heart leapt. Decisions were a human's greatest treasure. The power of choice was what made them truly unique and at the same time vulnerable.

 

     The red head staggered toward them. Its muscular bulk twisted and skin was a scarred white leather that showed an ageless map of mutilation. Gripped in one mighty hand was a long instrument. It had been sharpened to a ridiculous edge that cut even cement in half as it dragged behind it.

 

2

 

     As the illumination from the amulet continued to build Krosnos coiled a smoky arm round a metal beam. Moving along its corroded length he tightened his grip. Bit by bit its element developed into a mangled whisker that fell away the moment he let go. With a series of dings it tumbled into obscurity where the sign of earth came with a flush of high tide and then it was a strangled sound amongst utter growls and howls.  His shoulders rounded, his back arched, and wrapping his withered arms about him he combusted. Ash and flame spit fiery embers as he flexed his entire being and dispersed. Now a smoking skeleton he marched through freshly ignited rubble toward Henry and Lisa.

 

     "Fear him not," Dyne commanded, the amulet vibrating now with urgency.

 

     Henry rolled clear of the flaming liquid as Krosnos flexed his bone arm and flung a new spurt of the red stuff. Kneeling he aimed and squeezed two bullets off. He didn't know if it would make any impact, but it bought them enough time to reposition themselves. As the smoke cleared and Krosnos regained his balance he again flexed his encrusted bonearm and a line of igniting crimson raced toward him. He felt the heat of it as he jumped to the left. It sizzled behind him.  He weaved between large granite structures. From his askew angle he reckoned they had once belonged to the building on his right. Little bits laid everywhere. He hung out long enough to aim and fire then ducked back. One bullet whizzed over Krosnos' skull.

 

     Henry leapt to his feet and as he darted from one end of the enclosed space to the other he fired until his clip was empty. Now crouching behind a section of ruin, he fished in his pack for another and popped it in. As he reemerged to continue he lowered his weapon to realize Krosnos was gone.

 

     Lisa poked her head out from her own point of safety and advanced slowly, careful to leave no direction unsearched as she crossed the gravel pathway. Together they stood, back to back, guns still drawn, but the only company they had was a steel mesh door to lead then to the next segment. He reached carefully to tap Lisa's arm as he made a turn. He gestured toward the rusted steel mesh door with the barrel of his gun and unhurriedly they went for it.

 

     Through the yawning gateway they hopped and found themselves again facing completely different territory. Huge dark loops in compacted green sandstone dripped foul water and mud.

 

     "Where are we?" Lisa cried.  "Where's Dyne?!"

 

     Henry spun around. In the darkness every which way he turned seemed an endless void. He considered retrieving his dying flashlight from his pack and then thought again. He caught a glimmer of something to his left. He felt along the slime covered wall. The further he went toward it the darker it got. He paused, waited for his eyes to adjust and then continued. Sure enough there was a ladder!

 

      "Lisa, I found a way out!" In the short distance he heard her approach. Her footsteps echoed. Now as he consulted the ladder it hardly seemed dark at all. He motioned for Lisa to climb first.

 

     "I think it would be better if you scout ahead," he told her and then reconsidered his course of thought. "Actually, let me scout it out in case there is anything up there we might not be able to deal with."

 

     Upon reaching for the first metal rung he yanked his hand back and swore under his breath. It was as if something with metal teeth had given him a nip. He cautiously reached out again and patted the rung. The throb in his finger told him though there had been something... He shook his head. It was nothing more than his imagination, he tried to tell himself.

 

     On his ascent he paused on the fifth rung as a familiar texture. Only minimal effort was used to heave the lid off the manhole and as he poked his head out with his gun clasped in hand he surveyed the area. Immediately his eyes lead him to a cable car.

 

     "Lisa, come up," he yelled down to her.

 

     He squinted against the low glow of fires as they burnt to his left and right at a reasonable distance. Whatever the buildings once were they looked to have encircled an important business district. He pulled himself out and stood. A few seconds later Lisa emerged and together they pressed toward the cable car.

 

     Henry tossed a sticky piece of parchment aside. It had stuck to the heel of his boot. It was then he noticed it was spotted with blood, his blood. As the paper fluttered in the breeze he lifted his finger for examination. A slash from the tip to knuckle confirmed his earlier suspicions. There had been something down there. He took a step forward and stopped. A flash of heat raced through his veins. He leaned against the cool frame of the cable car and dabbed his forehead with his sleeve. It came back damp. He just needed to sit down and relax. Then this would go away, he assured himself and slid open the door to hop inside.

 

     After motioning Lisa toward a door labeled COCKPIT, Henry sank in his seat.  He found himself thinking about Dagger Doll, her porcelain skin and incredibly blue eyes, and wondered when he'd see her again.  It seemed far too long and as his eyelids grew heavy he felt her warmth, her satin touch and silk hair brush against his face.  She came into focus once he fought sleep off and he straightened.

 

     "Now it is Destra's turn," she explained, taking a seat next to him.

 

     "Remember."  Henry jerked to see Dyne materialize, amulet clutched in a unusually pale hand with bright purple fingers, as he continued to address him, "Fear her not.  Let your fear become hers."

 

3

 

     Lisa moved toward the sliding door. She gave Henry one last look before entering the cockpit, reluctant once her gaze met that of Dyne's and Dagger Doll's, but reassured herself in some shape or form they were always with them and she entered.

 

     She pivoted to see the controls. She leaned over them, her pale hair a curtain falling across her shoulders and then she looked up. She approached and sat in the conductor's seat. It could not be that hard to start a cable car, she told herself and began working the necessary gadgets. Within minutes the engine hummed and lights beamed from its flat face. Slowly as she pushed the lever up the tires began to carry them forward. It wasn't like driving a car but almost as easy, she thought and smiled. The tracks were narrow, curved every now and again, but presented no real challenge.

 

     Before she knew it the box of metal and cables slowed to a screech.  It seemed as though they traveled only a short distance, but as she rose and gazed out the yellow filmed windows she realized a completely new environment.  She met Henry at the door, sweat collecting in his brows, no sign of Dyne and Dagger Doll behind him, and took a deep breath.

 

     "Once we defeat Destra this nightmare will end," he said.

 

4

 

     The gun felt odd in his hands. It was almost like a piece of a puzzle that didn't fit quite right. Still he grasped it, his finger caressing the smooth steel of the trigger and he practiced aimed at the door. He sighed. It just didn't fell right. He lowered it and approached. The wood was more than cracks and grooves. Every corner, every ridge and detail caught his eye. It was like looking at it for the first time. And it was beautiful in its own little way.

 

     "Henry, are you okay?" Lisa asked.

 

     A door to the left, one that had only now bothered to materialize, opened and Henry motioned toward it. He entered without question, but Lisa lingered a bit. She slowly pressed through it only with a slight reassurance. The chapel door trembled in its foundation and a thick pitted arm broke free a wood panel and jetted inside. She glanced back to see the monsters erupt inside and as they tried to follow in pursuit, the door the heroes had entered faded to black.

 

     "Thanks, Dyne," Henry said. Though Dagger Doll and Dyne were not physically present he somehow sensed they were with them.

 

     At the end of the tunnel opened a park. It wasn't one filled with colorful playground equipment such as a swing set or jungle Jim, but all the same it seemed a place to relax and have fun if not for the mysterious foundation spiting green water and the stone encased pond under it.

 

     "Heather was here," Henry blurted. He didn't know how but her scent drifted to his nostrils. Her image lingered, bits of her essence hung in the breeze. He cradled his forehead in his palm. The voice...the images of creatures rushing after her...it was all there in his head. But this could not have been recent.

 

     "And it wasn't recent."

 

     In unison they jerked and took necessary steps back to gaze upon the entity.

 

     Destra's flaming red eyes brightened. "Dyne and Dagger show you too much."

 

     "What do you want?" Henry demanded.

 

     "Do you think you are stronger than me," she bellowed.

 

    "No, but we are," Dyne said.

 

     Lightning bolts jetted from Dyne's palms as he materialized. The crackling currents thrust Destra against a brick wall. Upon impact the solid structure exploded. Through a gaping hole emerged a scowling Destra with flames bleeding from its eyes.

 

    "So," Destra hissed. "You want to play rough, do you?"

 

    Destra opened her arms as if offering a hug but the sky rumbled and bore balls of inferno from its churning depths. They rained on Dyne, crashing, blazing and consuming everything in their path. The earth quivered beneath their feet. Henry ordered Lisa back. From behind a junk of debris the size of a Buick Henry peeked to watch Dyne shoot up from under the storm and while hovering in mid-air produced streams of water that swished and circled it before sloshing onto Destra in one angry wave.

 

     "They are going to get us killed," Henry whispered. "They can't even hurt one another. Why fight then?"

 

     The Dagger Doll stirred next to him, "Remember fear her not. Make your fear hers!" And she opened her hands to reveal the amulet.

 

     From a sizzling screen of smoke Destra projected like a rocket and seized Dyne by the shoulders. They propelled earth bound and landed. Beneath them dirt spewed, gushed and molded into a crater. They were evenly matched; Henry discerned and jumped out from his hiding place to shoot a single shot into the air. This made them leapt off one another, separate and returned to opposite corners of the park.

 

    "You two fighting will do no one any good," Henry yelled. "Can't you see you are only doing damage to everything but yourselves?!"

 

     Dyne searched the debris. "Now, Dagger! Have them project their fear now!"

 

    From the vibrating concoction silver arms uncoiled, ensnared Destra as she attempted to slither away, and that was when the red headed pyramid staggered into view alongside a stoned face Heather.  As they drew closer the amulet swelled with light until it sank beaming teeth into Destra's serpent like abdomen and bit her in half.

 

     "You filled me with darkness," Heather said, "and now I fill you with light."

 

     As Destra tried desperately to reattach herself the red pyramid swung its oversized blade and made a permanent barrier before turning and retreating the way it came.  A final deafening cry escaped her bulging throat before her two halves succumbed to the light and evaporated.  Tendrils of smoke whispered her defeat as the wind carried them skyward and once the amulet calmed, the consuming illumination dimmed to restore natural exposure,

 

     "Sleep now," Dagger Doll whispered and first Henry, followed by Lisa and then Heather toppled to the ground.  "When you wake you will be far from here and beyond its clutches.  Rest assured your noble actions have given you all a second chance."