The Angel of Elydria (The Dawn Mirror Chronicles Book 1) (53 page)

She didn’t understand. The underwater tunnel and cavern had been long, but not long enough to have led them out of the vast woods of Mulgrith. They now stood on a dry and overgrown trail lined by pine trees. Bewildered, Penny took a few cautious steps forward, walking around the bend of the tree-lined path. It seemed the only obvious direction. The others followed.

A flurry of green needles and gold fruit whipped past their eyes, and right away the path opened up into a circular clearing with a peculiar doorway in the center.

The doors stood eight feet tall, made out of silver and bolted with black iron. Particles of dust danced in the warm falls of light, and the trees seemed to stretch even taller. Penny took a few steps through the sea of grass that surrounded the doors, circling the free-standing doorway. As the memory from her dream played out, Penny turned sideways and beheld the tall willow tree that grew at the edge of the clearing, feeling herself drawn to it.

Penny approached the tree, placed her fingertips on its gnarled trunk and searched for the knothole she had seen in her dream. Sure enough, it stared back at her from the face of age-worn bark. Penny poked her fingers into the grizzled knothole until she felt something metallic, and clenched her jaw as she worked her finger around the side of the object. With a mighty tug, she uprooted a platinum key that was no longer than her pointer finger and rushed back across the tall grass to the doors.

Penny took a deep breath and allowed herself a moment to take in each of her friends’ exhilarated expressions before inserting the key and turning it with a satisfying click. Feeling her heart fill to the brim with anticipation, Penny pushed the doors open. A strange and wonderful new world opened before her eyes.

It was night on the other side of the doors, but the more disconcerting fact was that only one pearly moon stood fixed in the lavender sky, which blinked with almost too many stars.

In silent revere the group crept through the doors. The land beyond began with a gathering of white flowers that seemed to share the same color and glow as the moon above. The flowers grew in drifting waves beside cattails and long, untamed strands of grass. Water rippled underneath these plants and flowed out to create a shallow pond. In the distance, almost a mile away, Penny saw a white spire rising from the water like a brilliant tusk. In the face of the white stone was a lone arched window. It had to be where Della lived.

No one dared utter a word as they waded through the ankle-deep water that seemed too clean and clear to be real. The marsh of flowers and reeds gave way to a mosaic, and images of fish and octopi made from bits of colored stone rippled up at them. The surrealistic quality of this world bothered Penny more than the dark trees of Mulgrith.

“Penny, I don’t like this place,” Annette whispered when they had almost gone the mile. The group could now see two other doorways leading nowhere at equal distances from the spire, forming a triangle around it and its ring of white flowers. Penny squeezed Annette’s hand to comfort her.

“We’ve come too far to go back. Come on,” Penny encouraged.

The ground sloped upward as the ominous spire loomed high above their heads. A curved door made out of the same white stone faced them, sporting a round blue-glass window that flickered with the promise of candlelight behind it. Penny swallowed the last of her fear as she knocked, hoping that it was loud enough to announce their arrival. After a short wait, Hector took a breath as if he were about to speak, but it ended in a feeble choke as the door swung inward and a woman appeared.

Wrinkles upon wrinkles covered her skin, showing an age more profound than anything Penny could fathom. Hair fell in long, healthy silver waves, all the way to wrinkled feet. Glassy, bulb-like eyes beamed out from under a sheer pink hood as a deeply-veined, age-spotted hand gripped the doorframe to calm its shaking. Penny’s heart lurched as tears welled up in the woman’s eyes, her near-toothless jaw quivering when she tried to speak.

“Oh, how long I’ve waited for this day. You’re here at last,” the woman said, even her voice trembling. She appeared unashamed to be crying, her voice calm as she stepped backward and opened the door wide. No one made a move to enter.

“My dears, it’s me—Della. I’ve been expecting you, come inside,” she urged, curling her index finger inward. As if they stood on a moving floor, all five of them were pulled into the spire against their will, the door swinging shut behind them.

THE LITTLE WITCH beckoned their bodies upstairs, laughing at their frightened expressions. Penny felt as if she had become one of Argent’s puppets and tried to fight against the magic pulling her, but it was no use. Della led them into a room above the entrance hall where a stone table with two long benches stood. The five of them were escorted over and made to sit, and Penny felt control flow back into her body again. Fear now incapacitated her.

Annette was the first to break the heavy silence. “E-excuse me…but what is this place?” she asked, looking at the window, seeming keen on avoiding Della’s eyes. Della seemed to be taking in Annette’s lovely face, and gave her an affectionate smile before answering the question.

“This is the World Between Worlds, my dear. It’s a land of my own design―most everything that you see around you is an illusion. Each of those doors you see is a pathway to the three worlds. I’ve been hiding here for a little over four years now,” Della explained.

Penny’s breathing sharpened. Earth was just a doorway away.

“And why is that? Who are you exactly?” Argent asked, looking Della in the eye. The witch took a moment to gaze upon Argent.

“I have known many names, many stories, and have lived through many ages…I was born in Greece, and my name then was Pythia.” Della’s eyes lit up at the look of recognition on Penny’s face. She smiled an almost toothless grin. “But of course, you would know me.”

“But that would mean―”

“Yes, I am from
your
world, Penelope.” She shut her eyes for a moment and sighed. “I suppose it’s only fitting that my story should be told just once more.”

“When I came into that world I was human, but I had a magnificent gift―something that not even the Angels of these three worlds could explain. I am cognizant of the possible and likely pathways that the future will take. I began my life out as each young spirit does, selfish and without sympathy for others. I escaped from the fate that was assigned to me and used my gifts for personal gain. Eventually, my innumerable indiscretions caught up with me and I had to answer to Adrielle. She had come to punish me, as I rightfully deserved punishment―but instead of giving me death, which would’ve been a simple solution for both of us, she did something very different. She was right to think that my talents could be useful to her and gave me the chance to be absolved of my sins. I became her eternal servant,” Della lamented, looking miserable.

“What did she do to you?” Hector prodded.

Della’s eyes flashed and a wicked smile lit her face. “The unspeakable―the abominable deed,” she scoffed, which further proceeded to confuse Penny. “There is no way of attaining true immortality on this physical plane, not even the Angels are immortal. However, there is a way of slowing down the process. Only an Angel is capable of it―and it has only been done twice. But I must not say any more about that now, it would change too much of the future. My charge now is to impart, on you, knowledge of great importance, but you must not ask me to divulge anything more than what I will tell you freely. Do you understand this?”

“But we’ve come all this way and waited so long, can’t you just―” Penny began in frustration, but stopped when Della shot her a dangerous look.

“Of course your curiosity is strong, little Penelope, and I understand how you must feel, but for the fate of our three worlds you
must
remain ignorant. I can only promise you that one day you will know everything,” Della assured her. The witch took a deep breath and seemed to draw from something long awaited.

“As long as I have lived, I never thought that I would come to see the threat of the End Times. I speak not of the momentary death of a world, but of something much more profound. Worlds die and are reborn, as are Angels and all the living things of the land, sky, and sea. But certain things cannot be destroyed; things like energy, souls, and magic are eternal. At least, I had thought they were…but everything must have its antitheses,” Della said, her eyes haunted.

“What exactly does that mean?” Simon looked sick to his stomach.

“It means that when light came into being, shadow was left behind in its absence. Because there was a means of creation, there too must be a means of destruction. Angels are not responsible for creation, no, no…they are mere sculptors and shepherds of what was given to them. Creation is something entirely different, as is destruction. And that is exactly the threat that we face now.”

A spike of fear entered Penny’s heart. Hector’s face was ashen. The reality of her words had yet to take full effect, and already unpleasant thoughts stirred in Penny’s mind.

“What are you talking about? What does
any
of this have to do with us?” Simon bellowed, fear apparent on his face as he stared at a serene Della.

“It has
everything
to do with you―each one of you,” she stated matter-of-factly. “Be silent and I shall tell you how this all came to be.”

“Seival, Adrielle, Nestor,” Della repeated the names of the three Angels. “They are the lords of our worlds. They are siblings, just as their worlds are. But eternity weighs heavily, even on the divine. Four years ago Nestor turned with murderous intent against his own brother. It is an impossible feat to murder an Angel, but that did not stop Nestor from trying.”

“He…he killed Seival?” Hector whimpered, looking devastated.

Della shook her head. “He
tried
to kill Seival. An Angel can only truly die by their own volition. Instead, he dismembered Seival and with the divine flame, scorched the remains and all of Nelvirna.”

“You mean to say that it was that it was Nestor who destroyed my home?” Hector clarified. Della nodded and he shut his eyes tight, enduring a fresh wave of pain.

“Indeed. Nestor tore Seival and his world apart. The flesh of the Angel burned away and left nothing but his ruined stump of a body lying entombed deep within the ruins of Nelvirna, where it still exists to this day,” Della continued, but Annette stopped her.

“But what happened to Seival then? If he’s not dead, then―”

“He is shattered―and
that
is precisely why you are involved, my dear,” Della answered. Annette looked terrified and bewildered. “Four years ago, when Seival was torn limb from limb, what happened to you?”

“Four years ago I―”

“You woke up
feeling like your mouth was on fire
?” Della finished for her, her white eyebrow raised, and turned to face Hector. “And you? Four years ago, as Nelvirna collapsed around you, what happened?”

“I…pulled myself out of my world and onto Earth.”

“Something only an Angel can do,” Della added, watching as understanding lit his features. “Yes,
you
are what happened to Seival. His soul and his body lives on in you two, and that is why you are able to do such extraordinary things. Annette, my dear, the tongue of Seival is part of you ―that is how you can persuade others to do your will―and Aín, you possess both of his hands.”

Penny looked around to see whom she was speaking to and was shocked to see Hector looking down at his own hands in disbelief.

Aín? Why did she just call him Aín?

“And that’s why I can travel between worlds? That was the reason I lived, and everyone else died? ” Hector breathed, drawing his hands into fists.

“You were selected by Seival himself before his death. All of the souls that were to harbor his fragments were.”

“Well, what about me? Why am I involved in this insanity?” Simon demanded.

“Because you ran away all those years ago, Simon. Because of Oliver and Sam, and your dream to learn tricks, and because you said yes to Deimos. When you took the wand and went to find Penny, your fate was sealed. And as for you, Argent―” Della faced Argent and he looked up with a small start. “I think you know why you’re here.”