Order of the Golden Dawn (Neophyte Series 2)

CHAPTER 13 : BLACK MATTER

        We spent the night within the castle, in one of the few remaining rooms that still supported a ceiling, allowing us to keep dry for the night. At the center of the room, we managed to light a small fire to keep warm. There we sat in silence on opposite sides of the fire, while filling our stomachs with a much needed dinner of fruits and vegetables as the brown bear snored away just outside the room; the doorway being too narrow for it to enter.

    The moment we had shared was still fresh in our minds, but we were somehow unable to talk about it quite yet, which was fine by me. My heart was still afire; the flames of desire were so strong that the sleep I had yearned for back in the caves below seemed like long ago; I couldn't have slept to save my life.

    Taking my gaze from the fire, I admired her beauty and even though she knew I was looking at her, she did not look back, but simply donned a heartwarming smile as if she had been waiting for me; as I was now sure that she had.

    'What did the Visum show you?' The change of subject wasn't exactly welcomed but the break in silence certainly was.

    'I thought it was for me alone?'

    'Yes, I know; but I thought it might be useful to discuss our next move.' She reasoned.

    'I don't think we really got to that part. I was fairly distraught. Maybe we should venture down there again, perhaps get a second chance to listen... now that I'm a bit calmer that is.'

    'Possibly, if she's up for it.' Resentment for the ruddy bird that had shown me so much reared up. Did she fly away simply to protect herself? I was rather irate, after all. Hopefully she didn't take it personally.

    'What did she show you?' 

    Unbuttoning my shirt I grazed my hand across the newly acquired scar on my chest. The distinctive claw mark I had seen through the Visum proved beyond a doubt that I had been the beast in her prophecy.

    'She showed me what I will one day become... if I allow it.' I looked away from her; unable to meet her eyes knowing what may become of me some day. The image of the beast reaching for me replayed in my mind over and over again.

    'Do not let it get to you, Meric. Keep in mind that what she has shown you are things that might come to pass if you did nothing to change them. Your path must be altered to avoid this terrible fate. The events of tonight alone may have changed that.'

    'When Lewis Carroll first explained the choice I must make, I thought that was the end of it. I chose to run rather than join them. Would that not be enough?' I asked with a glimmer of hope in my heart.

    'Someone once told me that faith is like a mountain. The higher you climb; the further the fall if you lose your grip. The devil is always close behind, grabbing at your ankles trying to make you fall.'

    'You're saying that I can never be rid of this curse?'

    'Although your heart is the same as the rest of us, your physique is unique to this world. Faith requires endurance, and as long as you inhabit this particular vessel, you must fight your curse — or accept it. Balance will always be your goal and it'll be tricky to say the least. When you realize how many have fallen before you, you will see that you alone have the power to stand against the evil that pumps through your veins.'

    'I don't understand.' I admitted.

    'The Unnatural, Jack the Ripper, Edward, the Porcelain Child, they were once angelic souls.'

    'Angelic?' I lowered my eyes in confusion.

    'Yes. Believe it or not, they were all once Seraphim; the highest choir of angels. They were placed in their vessels with the hope that they would be able to fight the darkness within themselves. One after another, they fell to the darkness. You were a long shot; someone who had proven your value first-hand.'