Ascension (9 page)

“Her foot,” Alexander said solemnly.  Logan looked down, and gasped.

“What is that?” he demanded.  “What happened?”

“A small cut,” Laura said, trying to dismiss it as nothing.  She didn’t know why she felt so sapped of strength.   Or why the cut was so painful.  “The shadow nicked me with its blade.”

“You should not be bleeding like that,” Logan said seriously.  “Let me see.”

Laura tried to kick him away as he took her foot in his hands, but he did not waver.  He pulled her shoe off.  Gently, delicately, he rolled her sock down to expose the wound.  Both he and Alexander inhaled sharply at what they saw.

“Laura, this isn’t an ordinary cut,” Logan said gravely. 

“The wound is festering,” Alexander put in right behind him.

“So?” Laura demanded.  She didn’t like feeling weak, especially in front of Logan.  Feeling
or
appearing weak.  “It’s a small cut.  It’ll heal.”

“Is it very painful?” Logan asked.

“No,” Laura lied.

Alexander considered her.  “If that’s the truth… well, we can’t do anything about it now.  We’ll need to wrap it tightly to contain the blood flow.  Laura, this was not done by an ordinary blade.”

“Of course I know that!” she snapped.

Alexander tsked.  “The point is, that it may be dangerous for you.  You have to watch for any symptoms, and let us know immediately what you feel.”

Logan nodded in agreement.  “We’ll do the best we can.  Can you walk?”

“Of course I can—” Laura had to bite off the end of the sentence as Logan applied pressure to the cut.  Pain such as she’d never felt before pulsed through her entire body.  She willed herself not to show it.  “—walk,” she finished sourly.

Logan nodded, not really listening, and tore a piece of fabric from the sleeve of his shirt.  He used it to bandage Laura’s foot.  Laura winced and looked away, determined not to let them see her pain.

“There,” Logan said finally.  “That’s the best I can do right now.  Do you need a hand up?”

“No!” she said irritably.  Logan frowned at her response, and Laura forced herself to be gentle.  Why was she so irritable now?  “I mean, no, I’m fine,” she said in a softer tone.  “Thank you for taking care of my foot.”

“It’s nothing,” Logan said.  Then, in a half-whisper, added, “I should have been the one to go in first.”

Laura stood up, and Logan rose beside her.  For the first time, he looked beyond her to see the repository in all its glory.  “Wow,” he breathed, “this is it, huh?”

“Yes,” Laura said.  Her foot was crying out in pain, but she forced herself to ignore it.  “You did it, Logan.  You found it for us.”

Alexander stepped between them and came up to the first row of items.  He bent down, brushing his fingers gently over the artifacts.  “These
torrial
have the power to destroy the world,” he said to himself.  “What is it that we’re meddling with?  We are nothing but children, clueless to the real power and blind to the danger of any of them.  But yet, we
need
them.  It is the only way to attack the elders.”  He rose and turned around.  “I’ll go get Madison.”

Chapter Eight

~Madison’s Breakthrough~

Alexander returned with Madison before nightfall.  Laura and Logan dared not touch any of the
torrial
while they waited, for fear of what they might do, but jammed the door to the vault to make sure it did not close on them. 

“Where’s Jacob?” Laura asked when she saw Madison coming up the stairs.  The cut on her foot still hurt, but she had learned to ignore the pain.  Well, maybe not ignore, but she could cope with it better.

“Still recovering in the tent,” Madison said coyly.  “Even though he’s helped us this far, I thought it a bad idea to introduce another
Vassiz
to the angels after what happened with Rafael.”

“The angels?  Does that mean the tonic you’ve been working on is ready?”

“Yes,” Madison said.  “You and Logan will both be able to enter the dream realm again.”

“That’s unbelievable!” Laura exclaimed.  She got up, biting down the pain, and staggered over to embrace Madison in a hug.  “Everything is finally coming together.”

“Quite,” Madison said.  “Now, the only thing we have to worry about is finding the angels in the dream realm.”

“What do you mean?” Logan asked.  “Didn’t they say they were going to meet us at the repository once we found it?”

“Yes,” Madison said, “but how will they know when that is?”

“I’m sure they’ve been monitoring it,” Laura said assuredly.  “Or us.  It was their suggestion, after all.  Perhaps they’re able to sense when one of us enters the dream realm.”

“Let’s hope so,” came Madison’s reply.  She pulled out a vial from her pocket.  “Here’s your ticket there.”  She tossed the vial to Logan, who caught it easily. 

Logan examined the container, which was maybe half the length of hiss pinky finger and was less than a quarter full.  “There’s enough here for the both of us?”

“It’s a very delicate balance,” Madison said.  “Very potent, too.  One drop and either of you will be out in minutes.”

“How do you know this will take us to the dream realm?” Logan asked.  “And not… what happened last time.”

Last time
was the previous time Madison had claimed to have perfected the mixture.  Logan had been the one to try it, then, and ended up passed out for the better part of three days.  When he finally awoke, he had no recollection of what had happened the entire previous
week
.  Needless to say, he had been unable to enter the dream realm under the concoction’s influence.

“For one, like I said before, I finally got the pure ingredients I needed,” Madison answered.  “And two, while you all left to find the repository, and I was back in the tent with Jacob, I had time to test it on myself.  It worked.”

“And you were able to wake up when you wanted to?” Laura asked.  “You were in full control?”

“That’s right,” Madison said.  “Like I told you, everything’s ready.  It turned out to be great timing, don’t you think?”

“Absolutely,” Laura agreed.  What were the odds that they would find the repository on the same day that Madison finally perfected the herbal mixture?  It looked like the last three weeks had not been wasted, after all.  If any of them had found the repository earlier, they would not have been able to make use of it before Madison finished her task, anyway.  The rapid succession of successes made Laura more optimistic about the task at hand than she felt in weeks.

“So show me the vault you found,” Madison said, “and we won’t waste any more time.  We can go into the dream realm immediately.”

“Of course,” Laura said.  “Alexander, you want to take her there?  After she’s seen it, come back here, and we’ll go meet the angels.”

Alexander agreed and started leading Madison up the stairs to the highest level.  Just before she left, though, Madison turned around.

“You should probably take a drop of the mixture now,” she told Laura and Logan.  “The effects take a few minutes to kick in, and about ten before you’re actually asleep.  That’s more than enough time for me to see everything.”

“One drop for both of us?” Logan asked.

“One for Laura, and half for you.  Like I said, it’s potent.  Since Laura fed more recently, she’ll need a higher dose.”

“Alright,” Logan agreed, and Alexander led Madison away.

When they were gone, Laura looked at Logan.  “This is finally it, huh?” she said.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet,” Logan answered.  “This is just the first step.  Who knows what we’ll have to do next.”

“But it was our biggest roadblock for so long,” Laura said.  “I can’t believe we’ve finally made it here.  To have the repository before us, and the angels on our side… I feel like we can take on the world, Logan.  The elders won’t stand a chance before us!”

“Maybe,” Logan said thoughtfully. 

“Maybe?” Laura frowned.  “What do you mean,
maybe
?  This is what we planned to do, and we’re finally here.  We’re finally ready to take on the elders once and for all!”

“I mean, I’m glad you’re enthused, Laura.  I am too, of course.  But you don’t know the elders like I do.  They’re strong.  And cunning.  It’s best not to underestimate them.  We’re talking about the most powerful
Vassiz
in existence, Laura.  No matter what advantage we may have, it’s always better to expect them to be able to counter it full-force.”

“That wasn’t your opinion before,” Laura said sourly.

“It was always my opinion,” Logan said.

“Not before you pushed me into doing this!  Not before you agreed to doing it!”

“I’m just saying that we need to be cautious,” Logan countered.  “And come on.  You know as well as I do that our chances of success were always low.  All we can do is pray that somehow, someway, it’ll be enough.”

“But you don’t think so anymore,” Laura said.  “Why?  You weren’t so pessimistic before.”

“Seeing the repository for the first time made it so much more real for me,” Logan admitted.  “When we were looking for the
torrial
, our path wasn’t yet defined for us.  I mean, yes, we were all striving to find them so that we can take the next steps, but I guess… I guess there was a part of me that was holding out hope that we wouldn’t.  It’s stupid.  We all know what we were getting ourselves into.  And now it’s real.  Now it’s there.  Before we found the repository, it was just off, somewhere in the future…” he waved a hand absently.  “But now we have to face it head on.”

“At least we’re doing it together,” Laura said gently, touching his arm.

Logan smiled at her.  “Yes.  Together.  You are the reason I’m here.  Never forget that.”

“I won’t,” Laura said.  She moved closer to him, and placed her head on his shoulder.  He brought his arm around and held her tight. 

“No matter what happens,” Logan whispered, “I’ll always be here for you.”

“I know you will,” Laura sighed.  What happened next would determine their fate for their entire lives; for the entire future.  If they succeeded, she could finally live in peace.  Together with Logan.  And if they failed… well, Logan’s candor made that possibility seem much more likely.  If they failed, at least they would do it together.  It was a somber thought, but oddly comforting.

“Shall we?” Logan asked, rotating Madison’s vial in his hands.  Laura nodded, and he popped the top open.  Laura stuck her tongue out, and he placed a drop carefully onto it.  Then he opened his mouth and swallowed the remainder of the mixture.

“Five minutes, right?”

“Something like that.”

“Then we have enough time…”  Laura trailed off, and traced her finger gently along Logan’s jaw.  His eyes lit up, and he moved his head toward hers.  He ran his hand up along her arm, and then down her body.  She gasped, and then pulled his face close to hers to kiss him.

That’s when she heard Alexander bounding down the stairs.

Logan cursed, and pulled away from her.  Laura let him go sadly.  At this rate, they wouldn’t get a moment alone until after they faced the elders. 
If
they got out of the confrontation alive.

“Madison’s found something,” Alexander exclaimed.  “Come.  Quickly.”

“What is it,” Laura started to say, but he was already gone.

Logan pushed himself up.  “Better check it out,” he said.  He started to help her up, but she shrugged him off.  She could do fine by herself.

They went up the stairs to the highest level, where the vault stood open.  Alexander was already inside.  Laura followed Logan in.  Inside, standing at the far end of the vault, she saw Madison.  She was staring at something hidden from view. 

“What’s going on?” Laura asked.

“Come, look at this,” Madison said.  She spoke as if in a trance. 

Laura started toward her, but Logan held her back.  “Let me go first.”  Laura hesitated, then nodded.  Logan approached Madison slowly.  “What is it?” he said.

“
That
.”  Madison was pointing to something on the floor.  Laura got closer, and saw a solid sphere.  It was about the size of a large watermelon.  The outside was made of thick, heavy-looking glass, dark and nearly impenetrable by the light.  Laura blinked.  For a second, she thought that she could see
past
the surface, into the very heart of the sphere.  There were dark, angry clouds toiling there.  When she blinked again, they were gone.

“What is it?” Laura asked.

“A
torrial
of immense power,” Madison answered.  “I recognized it the moment I saw it.  From my pack’s history.”

“I didn’t know packs have a history?” Laura said.

“Some do.  Some are more cultured than others.”  She shot a look at Alexander, who shrugged.  “Mine did.  They spoke of a device like this one, both feared and revered in the past for what it could do.  It was passed down from pack leader to pack leader before the elders came to power.  That was when it disappeared.  To… end up here.”