The Adventures of the Junior Phoenixes, Part 5: The Last Pendant

Chapter 24: Through the Trees

Chapter 24

     The bus drove on through fog and cold mist for longer than Shade could remember. John Hardstone, who had been sitting in the back of the bus the whole ride through the Realm Beyond, kept whistling to himself. Shade took John’s words to heart as the bus kept rolling. He pondered long. As the bus was going the mist and fog would occasionally clear up. What Shade saw in those brief moments of clarity were scenes from his life; various scenes from his childhood and beyond. He kept his gaze glued on the scenes outside of the bus.
     “I remember that day,” Shade said. Outside he could see a Quidditch Pitch and many students in various colored robes. He saw Quidditch players lifted upon the shoulders of others and paraded around like victors in a war.
     “That was when we won the Ward Cup,” John commented. “I remember it, too. Meadow caught the Snitch just before that dude Talon Mason cut her off. He ended up rammin’ her right into its flight path. He was hot about that for a while, but he played it cool; came over and shook all our hands. Homeboy was a cool customer.”
     Shade nodded. “That was a good day,” he said. “That was the first time Rouge and Jinx kissed.”
     “What?” Hardstone asked. “You pullin’ my wand!”
     “No, I’m not,” Shade laughed, “They kissed that day. They went to the Iron Mountain and made out afterwards in the Star Chamber. They don’t know I knew, but I knew. He got weird around her after that day. He didn’t want anyone to know they’d made out so he acted stupid around her. It drove her crazy at first, then she started to act stupid right back at him. They put me in the middle of all that madness. Then he thought I liked her and I kept telling him he was crazy and that she was my best bud besides you and he got jealous over her. Then that incident happened with Griffin and Meadow, and it put a wedge between him and I since then. He got kicked out and that was that. He started his little gang of Red Jackets and kept antagonizing me and Jinx until he met up with Echo and she turned his life around.”
     “That’s my girl, Stripes,” Hardstone commented, “She got a way ‘bout her, y’know?”
     “I know,” Shade replied. The bus then showed Shade the moment onboard the Fwooper’s Folly when Shade and Rouge shook hands, after the attack on the Ministry offices in Salem. “I’m glad we patched things up.”
     “Me, too, homey,” Hardstone said. “I figured he would. That dude’s gonna do something amazing. You wait and see. He don’t give up on his blood, homey. Just wait an’ see.”
     The fog thickened once again and the sky began to darken. The headlights on the bus turned on as it ominously continued its venture into the unknown. It approached a range of hills that were too big to see from end to end. The hills were covered in trees and shrouded in mist. The bus came to the foot of the hills and stopped.
     “Looks like this is your stop,” Hardstone announced.
     “What?” Shade asked. “Here?”
     “Here,” Hardstone answered.
     “Why here?”
     “Because at the top of these hills,” Hardstone revealed, “Is where you need to get to. You gonna have to mosey up the hills and get your ass to the top.”
     “You’re not coming?” Shade asked.
     “Sorry, homey,” Hardstone replied, “This ain’t my fight. I did my part. I finished my race. I can’t help you up there. You have to handle that part on your own.”
     “Handle what?” Shade asked.
     “The climb,” he responded. “It won’t be easy. It ain’t gonna be fun, neither. But you can do it, foo. You’re not a coward. You ain’t no idiot. You’re a Phoenix. Go on.”
     “What about you?” Shade asked.
     Hardstone got up and walked to Shade. He stood Shade up and gave him a strong, embracing half-hug. “I got you, homey. You got me. I’m always where you need me to be in your heart and in your memory. We had good times, bro. We had a lot of laughs and a lot of crazy times. I don’t regret a minute. Not a single minute. You always got me, dude. When things go bad, and believe me, they will go bad, don’t forget who was there for you; don’t forget who had your back and what we went through. Those bonds, dawg, those bonds are stronger than curses and jinxes; they go deeper than blood and bone. I love you, man. I’m gonna miss you, but I can wait a little while longer ‘til you make your way back here when you’re supposed to.”
     Shade hugged him back. “’Til then, brother.”
     “Damn right,” Hardstone said. He walked to the front of the bus, then he stepped aside to let Shade off. Shade took his steps off of the bus, then gave Hardstone a final farewell wave. Hardstone responded with a single nod and a grin. The door to the bus closed and it left. Hardstone made it to the back of the bus and gave a thumbs-up one last time before the bus disappeared into the mist.
     Shade looked up at the ascent of the hill. The trees were tall, naked, barren, and wan. They had no leaves and only a few had long branches. The trees looked more like spikes and spires sticking out of the ground. The tops of the trees were veiled by the mist. There was no grass on the ground; it was coarse, brown, and dead. The hill kept going upwards, always in a slope and never a sharp ascent.
     Shade began to climb the hill. He climbed and climbed and climbed. Unlike before, when he had no sense of the passage of time, the ascension up the hill felt like it took forever. Every step he remembered on the hill. Every minute he could recall. Time slugged along slowly, like molasses in the middle of winter. He kept hearing noises but every time he stopped to look around he saw nothing. There was little he could do; he had no wand and no sword. He picked up a stick and walked with it as though it was ample enough to ward off any unwanted companions.
     “Ha!” a voice laughed. “You think a twig is going to protect you?”
     Shade stopped. He could feel his heart racing, the pain in his side running up within. He turned around and saw no one. The voice sounded like it had come from all directions. “Who’s there?” he called out to the mist and the trees.
     “You afraid, mate?” the voice asked him.
     Shade spun around, looking for who had spoken to him. “Show yourself!” he called out.
     When Shade turned around to face the ascending hill he froze. Before him, grinning and dressed in sharp clothing, with a crimson-colored tie and a black shirt, black suit jacket, and wing-tipped shoes, stood a man. He had short brown hair, smooth skin, and a little thin, well-groomed beard. He was handsome; the trickery of his devilish looks was that he was always handsome.
     “Antipater!” Shade gasped.
     “I know what you’re thinking,” Vitellius Antipater said, “Because it was the same thought that went through my mind just now: What is he doing here?”
     Shade kept a tight grip on the stick in his hands. It was a thick stick, which brought him a tiny glimmer of hope. “Not quite the thought that was crossing my mind. I was thinking more along the lines of, ‘I wonder if I could pierce his heart quick-like with this stick in my hand.’ I was more or less thinking along that line, sorry.”
     Antipater, who had been a vampire and a villain in his time in the mortal coils, stood and grinned. “I don’t think it works that way here, love,” he noted, “You see, vampirism is a curse. Curses have no presence here. This place is beyond curses. No longer am I the vampire kingpin of a criminal enterprise that had once spanned across the Eastern American Seaboard. No, I’m afraid those days are done, no thanks to you and your young friends. Here, I’m just another wayward soul. Here I’m another resident of eternity like you; digging in so that I may have a place in this afterlife.”
     “Digging in?” Shade asked.
     “Yes,” Antipater answered. “I planned on building a home here in this hillside. It’s peculiar, though. Every time I try to break the earth, it will not bend to me, will not break. I’ve tried building upon it for quite some time now but nothing stays; nothing remains.”
     Shade kept wary of the former vampire. He circled around Antipater with the stick still tightly in his grasp.
     ““Are you frightened of me, Shade?” Antipater asked. “How odd a thing, fear is. It lies dormant within us until something stirs it. When it wakes it swells. The capacity of growth it exhibits depends upon the beholder and that person’s object of fear. People who fear clowns or heights or vampires or other things that go bump in the dark; those things are amplified if a person focuses too much on the fear and not enough on the strength to fight it. Fears are mere shadows; one need only turn on the light to shoo the fear away.”
     “Funny,” Shade said, “I didn’t think you bought into Easter’s fanatical religion, too. I thought you just wanted to use him to do whatever you want wherever you could. Didn’t peg you as a true believer.”
     “Oh, I’m not,” Antipater replied, “Not in Easter’s methods, at least. Leech, though, is a fiendish genius. He outsmarted you and your friends, certainly. He knew how to rile you up and get you to do exactly what he wanted you to do. He’s cunning and clever. I admire that in a wizard.”
     “I’m sure you do,” Shade remarked.
     “Don’t be so dismissive, Shade,” Antipater said, “We are not so dissimilar, you and I.”
     Shade was repulsed at being compared to the former vampire. “You think we’re similar?”
     “Most definitely,” Antipater answered, “We are both children of destiny, Shade. We are parts of a grand scheme, a play, a dramatization that was written long before you and I were mere twinkles in the eyes of our forbearers. We were destined to be intertwined in this tale of tales. I was meant to be captured by you in the Ravenswood. I was meant to be anchored to that little Floridian girl. We were meant to be part of the tale of the Pendants. And now, here we are, once again. You and I were meant to meet here on this hill. We were meant to cross paths once more. We are cogs in the machines of the gods, Shade; offerings poured upon the altar of the lesser things. Our time is finished, our war is over. Forever shall we wander in the Realm Beyond without abode until something finds us and gives us permanence.”
     “Speak for yourself,” Shade said. “I’m going to climb this hill. I’m going to see what’s on top. You do what you want, but that’s my plan.”
     “What is so special on top of this hill?” Antipater asked.
     “No clue,” Shade replied. “Listen, as much as I like bantering with people who have tried to kill me, I gotta go. So, yeah, this has been fun, but I’m leaving now- Ouch!” Shade reached for his side and grabbed it. The pain flared up inside again.
     “What’s that all about?” Antipater asked.
     “None of your business,” Shade said through gritted teeth.
     Antipater took a step back. He examined Shade for a few moments. “You’re not dead,” Antipater remarked. “You’re alive. You didn’t die. We’ve been here roughly the same amount of time. But you’re not dead?”
     Shade didn’t answer. He gripped the stick as tightly as he could. The Pendant of Life bristled as it hung around his neck.
     “I’ve been around dead and undead people long enough to know the difference,” Antipater said, “How I have failed to notice so far is beyond me. But there it is, plain as day. You have the spark of life still inside you. I see it.”
     Shade watched as Antipater’s demeanor changed. He began to circle Shade just the same. The two circled each other; two planets on a collision course.
     “Ah!” Antipater said, “I get it now! Here I’ve been wandering this hill looking for a place of permanence when the truth is there isn’t one for me. I’m not destined to stay here. I see it now. You and I were meant to meet here among eternity. We were meant to dance, Shade. We were meant to cross paths because I was not meant to stay here. I am not meant to be here. I can return to the realm of the living with that Pendant. I know which one you bear: The Pendant of Life. It can bring me back! It can take me back! I’d ask you for it but I’m pretty sure you’d resist. So, tell me Shade: What are we going to do now?”
     Shade kept the stick low. He watched as the grin on Antipater’s face grew devilishly. In a flash the scene rushed into panic. Antipater lunged towards Shade but rolled just as Shade swung the thick stick at him. Antipater kicked at Shade’s leg, hitting him behind the knee. Shade dropped to one knee and spun. He swung the stick again, nearly catching Antipater on the shoulder, but the former vampire moved with a speed that was beyond human. Antipater side-stepped Shade’s stick, grabbed Shade by the coat and shirt, and tossed him towards a tree. Shade hit a tree and spun to the ground. Antipater then pounced towards Shade but Shade rolled out of the way. Shade kicked at the villain, hitting him in the thigh, but he took it and grabbed Shade’s leg. Antipater tossed Shade again towards a tree but missed. Shade hit the ground hard.
     “Let me know when you feel like handing the Pendant over,” Antipater announced, “This doesn’t have to be this way. Accept your destiny, Shade.”
     Shade got up, just in time to catch a punch from Antipater in the face. Shade reeled back, stumbling to the ground again. Shade shook his head, hoping to get his bearings. As Antipater was rushing towards Shade, Shade grabbed Antipater’s arms, shoved his legs into Antipater’s midsection, and monkey-tossed the villain over him. Antipater landed on his feet and laughed.
     “Nicely done, Shade!” he joked, “Good effort, old chum!”
     Antipater walked towards Shade and went to rush him again but Shade judo-threw him to the ground. Antipater landed hard on his back, laughing loudly.
     “That was precious!” Antipater laughed. “Once more, with feeling!”
     Shade watched as Antipater got up quickly. Shade decided to run up the hill but Antipater was quicker. He shoved Shade hard, causing him to fall to the ground. Shade rolled and got back up. Antipater went to reach for the Pendant of Life but the Pendant flashed, burning Antipater with its power.
     “Oh, yeah!” Antipater yelled, “I love it when they play rough!”
     Shade kicked him. His kick hit Antipater in the midsection but the villain merely laughed it off. He kept taunting Shade, laughing at Shade’s attempts to keep him away.
     “This is the great Shade le Fay they kept talking about?” Antipater asked mockingly. “I was led to believe that your bloodline made you strong! How disappointed I am at you! You’re pitiful!”
     Shade went to punch Antipater but the villain caught his arm, yanked it, and tossed him several yards.
     “What will I do when I get back?” Antipater laughed. “First I’ll go and drain the life out of those idiot teachers at Salem Academy! I’ll start with Wolf and then the others.”
     Shade stood up and went to strike Antipater but was thrown again.
     “Then,” Antipater continued, “I’ll find those little British twins that Leech wanted so badly and cut them to ribbons!”
     Shade growled. He ran towards Antipater but was struck with a punch to the face. Shade fell right before the former vampire.
     “Oh, I can’t wait to get my hands on that little Florida girl!” Antipater bellowed. “Then the other Aurors, then your friend Jinx and that loser, Teller!”
     Shade spit out blood. He felt his nose broken and his side splitting with pain.
     “I’ll finish them off slowly before I get my hands on that pathetic little wannabe vampire girl; the one I bit, the tasty one. What was her name? Star, wasn’t it?”
     Shade snapped. He roared. He jumped up and tackled Antipater. He rolled, got back up, and kicked Antipater in the face. He roared again, took Antipater by the shirt collar, and threw him face-first into a tree. He uppercut Antipater and knocked him to the ground. He then mounted the villain and proceeded to pummel him, holding him down by the throat with his left hand and striking him repeatedly with his right. His knuckles were bloodied by both Antipater’s blood and his own.
     “NEVER!” Shade roared. “You hear me?!? You’ll never touch them! Never again!” Shade got up, grabbed Antipater’s shirt, dragged him a few feet, picked up the same stick that he had before, broke it, and staked the villain in both hands. The makeshift stakes pinned Antipater to the ground. He yelled in pain so loud it rattled the nearby dead trees. “You hear me, you piece of trash?!?”
     Antipater spit out blood and laughed again. “There’s the fire!” he joked. “I was wondering what it would take to get a rise out of you!”
     Shade got up and stared down at the pinned Antipater. Shade’s chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. “You planned this?”
     “Not really,” Antipater laughed. “This wasn’t how it played out in my head, but this was fun!”
     Shade shook his head. “You’re sick.”
     “No,” the villain replied, “But thanks for the compliment.” He yanked his hands free, bloodied and with holes in them, and laughed. He picked up one of the stakes and pointed it at Shade. “Now for my response.”
     Shade moved quickly as Antipater tried to stake him in the belly. Shade was able to fight off Antipater’s efforts to stab him. He punched, kicked, and threw Antipater away each time. Finally, Antipater backed Shade into a tree and held him there with the stake to Shade’s throat.
     “It ends now, mate,” Antipater said, “I just need to take this off of you and you’re done.”
     Shade struggled to free himself but Antipater kept him pinned.
     “When I kill your friends, I’ll make sure they meet you here and tell you all about how they died. How does that sound?”
     Shade howled. “NEVER!” he screamed. The Pendant of Life flashed brighter than it had ever done. Antipater was thrown back. The tree behind Shade was cut and nearly blown apart. The lower trunk was split and the tree came toppling down. Shade stepped away from it as it toppled. It fell upon Antipater where he lay, crushing his legs under its weight. Antipater screamed in tremendous pain at first, then he started to laugh.
     “Ha!” Antipater croaked. “I’m proud of you, Shade! You did it! You did what you have not had the courage to do before! You defeated me! You found your strength! I underestimated your power! How excited you must feel!”
     Shade’s fists were clenched, the anger burning inside of him. “Excited?” he asked furiously. “You bet I’m excited!” He picked up another branch and held it to Antipater’s throat, as Antipater had done to him earlier.
     “Good!” Antipater laughed weakly, “Now finish the job! Give me the death I deserve! Do it or I will come back and take that Pendant from you! You have to, Shade! Do it!”
     Shade shook from the anger inside him. He slowed his breath, inhaled, and then loosened his grip on the branch. He dropped it and stepped away. A clarifying stream of revelation struck his mind. He knelt beside the trapped Antipater and chuckled.
     “You’re good,” Shade said. “You almost had me. You almost got me to do it. That was close.”
     “What?” Antipater asked.
     “You wanted me to kill you,” Shade answered. “You wanted me to kill you so that I’d be unworthy of the Pendant of Life. That was good. That was clever. I almost did it.”
     “Kill me, you idiot!” Antipater urged.
     Shade shook his head. “No,” he replied. “I get it, Antipater. I kill you and I turn into Leech; he started to kill people and he tainted everything about the Pendant of Life. That’s why it was removed from him; it found him unworthy. The preservation of life is the Pendant’s most sacred priority. I won’t do it. Killing something soulless like a Bundimun or a Vampiri is one thing, but I won’t take a life, not even yours. You were right. I was meant to have this Pendant. I was meant to carry it. It was my destiny. You were right. Gosh, that’s almost funny to say to you. But I won’t kill you. It would be easier to kill you but that’s not me. I’m better than that. I’m stronger than that, stronger than you. I’m Shade le Fay, descendant of Morgan le Fay, Bearer of the Pendant of Life, Auror for the Ministry of Magic. I have a job to do. I’m going back and you’re gonna stay here and spend eternity thinking about how you and your buddies lost. You lost, buddy. Thanks for the lesson.” Shade got up and started to walk up the hill.
     “NO!” Antipater yelled out. “Get back here! Kill me! Give me the death I deserve! Get back here! Don’t leave me like this! I deserve a grand death! I am Vitellius Antipater! I am the Lord of the Undead, the King of Vampires! I’m the greatest vampire since Vlad the Impaler! I deserve a great death! I will not be stuck here for eternity! LET ME OUT! SHADE! SHADE! GET BACK HERE NOW! SHADE!”
     Shade merely shook his head as he kept walking. “What a crybaby,” he whispered as the mist cleared before him and he ascended the hill in the Realm Beyond, leaving the dead forest and the fallen vampire lord behind him, pinned by a tree forever.