Immortal Ties

Chapter Fourteen

Recap: In the event of Cal and Kim's wedding their is an attack from the Master and his demons. Calder is taken prisoner and an ancient sword is taken from below the chambers in their wake. When Gabriel wakes up his memories are clouded. The only thing he remembers is Calder's unconcious body being taken by a Fwultur. Later, he finds that Calder is safe but remembers that the ancient sword has been taken and that there is a traitor among them. 

Chapter Fourteen

• Andy •

I wandered the corridors, aimlessly, after I left Kimberly’s room. I didn’t want to go, but the look in her eyes, tears welling behind them, were cause to take my leave. Her grief had been denied in light of the events that had transpired. No one had taken a moment to breathe.

Until now.

The presence of time eluded me as I lost myself in memories of the past. I saw my mother’s smile; Johnny and I playing in Central Park, running through the endless maze of greenery; Daddy tucking me into bed every night until I turned fourteen.

The happiest of memories faded like chalk on the sidewalk after rain. My heart slowly plummeted as I found out Mom and Johnny had gone missing on a cold winter day. Their deaths had been counted that day – their bodies never found amidst a battle in Egypt. Tears brimmed my eyes, threatening to spill as the images flickered, and changing course to one of my deepest regrets.

I was only fourteen, honing in on my abilities when I lost a friend by my hand. Confusion surfaced in my mind when Roni went still, her skin losing the natural pallor. Anger quickly dispelled confusion as I begged her to come back to me. I took her in my arms; shaking her, crying out her name – anything and everything to have her with me again, laughing at some joke like nothing had happened. I clung to the hope that her eyes would flutter open, erasing the painstaking fear. But she didn’t. She was gone and I couldn’t do anything to save her.

Somehow, I had stumbled outside into the garden – the cool spring air caressing my skin. It was being outside that made the memories subside into the recesses of my mind and heart. I couldn’t dwell on the past, but it was hard not to when everywhere I turned there was sadness and destruction. It was hard to be strong when all you had come to know was unraveling at the seams.

As I walked through the garden I noticed the rot and ruin the battle had left the East side of the state. The plots surrounding the alter were nothing but seared, empty brambles of withered flowers. The white wooden arch that had been specifically built for the occasion was a pile of discarded wood, broken in fragments by the shattered water fountain. Pieces of torn, shimmering fabric lay scattered across the lawn; chairs were crumpled in a heap, scorched by fire or destroyed by the fighting. The marble pillars that had been moved from the dining hall were nothing but remnants of disintegrated stone, sprinkled across the field of a forsaken place.

I was afraid to get close to the place where a kiss had been sealed only to be shattered with a violent end. My feet walked the opposite direction, far from the havoc the demons had caused.

 It wasn’t until I came to the end of one path that I was startled by a dark silhouette, lying motionless on the grass.

Gabriel?

My spirits slightly lifted as I warily advanced. I should have known that he would be unable to sleep at a terrible night such as this. Even if I had tried to succumb to a dreamless sleep I knew I would just end up tossing and turning, sleep unthinkable in such a state.

I lightly padded towards him, not wanting to disturb the peace he’d built. I looked up at the sky, seeing a splatter of stars across the vast milky way. There was no moon, only the stars offered a semblance of light for weary travelers.