The Sentinels of Eden, Books 1-4

Chapter 38

Chapter 33

Once again I felt the peculiar feeling of something moving through my skin and wrapping itself around some hidden part of me, as if part of my soul was being held back, unable to cross. The dry wind fell flat, replaced with a sweet humid breeze that I couldn’t help but inhale deeply to catch the floral scent. My mind was momentarily blank as I stared out across the valley, until I noticed Noah sitting at my feet with his legs dangling over the edge of the cliff and silent tears streaming down his face. There was so little space between the boundary and the massive drop below us that I had to move very carefully.

I cautiously sat down next to him, trying not to crush the delicate flowers that had somehow managed to grow right up to the stony edge. Intense beauty slapped each of my senses as if scolding me for taking so long to arrive and appreciate it, and in that instant everything I thought I understood about perfection changed. The prettiest diamond, the most breathtaking view, the most delicious chocolate and the softest silk all suddenly stank in my memory in comparison to what I was experiencing of Eden.

Noah and I stared, overwhelmed by the beauty that was inherent in everything we saw. We had to keep blinking away the instinctive tears that came from the profound realisation that we had come home. My mind struggled to absorb the dichotomy between the two worlds. It was as if all the best fantasy writers and movie artists from around the globe had brainstormed together to create the perfect faerie tale land and then handed their ideas over to God, who then surreptitiously chucked the whole lot out while they weren’t looking and made Eden instead. It was a thousand times better.

Every one of my pores was busy trying to absorb the heavenly fragrance of the air. Honey-sweet and delicately perfumed with spicy blossoms, I would have paid a fortune for even a tiny bottle of such a scent. It was so very real. Where my mind had naively imagined a pink sky and sparkling rainbows, instead I saw natural grass and trees and rippling fields. It was Earth. But it was perfect. It was also huge. Clearly Eden was so much more than a small valley of manicured lawns. We could see majestic snow-capped mountains in the distance where a moment ago there had been dry dusty plains. There were thick forests to the north full of huge trees and birds flying everywhere. I could see magnificent herds of animals below. Some I recognised but some I didn’t, and I was itching to get closer and see what they all were. There were so many that it reminded me of the start of the Lion King. If there had been a lion cub handy I would have lifted it up to show them all. It was all simply spectacular. And at the heart of it all was a wide river that embraced the land in its soft curves. No. It wasn’t a river, it was the River. It was so majestic that it defined the word. And apparently I wasn’t the only one who felt the need to redefine my language.

‘Ambrosial,’ Noah whispered. ‘I get what it means now.’ He took my hand in his. We had shared so much of our lives and I was deeply gratified that he was with me for this. His presence was so comforting now that I was faced with the reality of our task. This place was sacrosanct, and needed to remain a secret. There was no doubt in my mind that if the human race knew all this was here, they would stop at nothing until they found a way in. And that could not be permitted. I rested my head on his shoulder and stared out over Paradise.

Despite my intention to only spend a few short minutes there, when I checked Bane’s watch I realised that more than forty minutes had passed since we had first arrived. Even then it was difficult to feel any sense of urgency. I knew the other two would be frantic but it was so hard to focus on why that was such a big problem. They would want us to cross back.

‘So is it possible?’ I asked Noah quietly. He knew what I meant. We were both impatient to get down there.

He nodded. ‘Very possible. There are plenty of places to land and plenty of birds to show us where the thermals are.’

I stood and pulled Noah up with me. ‘We need to go,’ I told him.

‘Already? Why?’ he asked sounding surprised and slightly annoyed.

‘Tess will be worried.’

‘But I’m fine. Why should she worry?’

‘Because she doesn’t know that you’re fine. She will want you to come back now.’ I tugged at him as I tried to concentrate on how the others must be feeling. I didn’t want them to feel bad and that seemed to be the only thing that mattered to me. I dragged Noah away from the view. A moment of confusion made me pause as I came to terms with the fact that the view behind me had also completely altered. Lush forest growth begged for exploration, and just a couple of metres from where I stood a giant lace monitor clung to the side of a ridged tree trunk. There was no evidence to suggest that I couldn’t walk straight up to it. Suddenly concerned that we had somehow become lost, I stretched out my fingers to feel for the boundary. Did I even want to feel it? A very dominant part of me wanted it to be gone so that I could just step forward and be part of this new world. A tingle met my touch, and I sighed in a mixture of relief and disappointment.

Remembering how Bane’s hand always dissolved out of my grasp as I crossed over, I pushed Noah through from behind so I could be sure he wouldn’t get distracted again. The second I crossed over I was hit by such a crushing wave of guilt that I started trembling. I had promised Bane I would be quick. I’d wanted to show him I could be trusted, but I hadn’t counted on the complete lack of focus that I’d had once I crossed over. It was incredible that Harry had made it to our meetings at all.

It looked like Bane had been pacing along the ridge because he spun around as soon as I appeared. He was visibly struggling not to run over and throw himself at me like last time, so I went to him instead and hugged him an apology. He held me for what would have been considered far too long in polite company but I was in no hurry to move. I could feel his heart thumping in his chest, subsiding as his anxiety lessened. My body yearned to hold him closer and my mind struggled to remember why that was a bad thing to do. All I could think of was kissing him again as I felt him stroke my hair, and I started to turn my face towards his, but then he let me go and I almost cried. Perhaps my feelings were magnified by the fact that I had just walked away from the most spiritual experience of my life, because it was physically painful the way I ached for him. Just as well he had pulled away. I crossed my arms to prevent myself from reaching out to him.

Noah and Tessa showed no such restraint. It was even worse than when Claudia had been all over him. Claudia had kissed him in public to show the world that he was hers, but Tessa kissed him as if the rest of the world didn’t exist. A small wave of jealousy washed over me, but I wasn’t sure if it was because she was stealing my best friend away or because what they had was so refreshingly uncomplicated. Probably both.

‘So what’s it like?’ Bane asked, distracting me from my thoughts. I looked up at him dreamily. I wanted to tell him it was like looking into his eyes when he smiled at me. It was beautiful and peaceful and easy, and full of exciting promises.

‘It’s amazing. It’s so pretty, and real, and … huge.’ I stumbled over the ridiculously inadequate words. I wanted so much to be able to share this with him. If only he could see it. Guilt welled in the back of my throat at the thought. He couldn’t be allowed to know! I couldn’t tell him anything. My head was filled with such conflicting thoughts. I desperately wanted him to experience Eden and yet I felt appalled at the thought of allowing him to know any details. It made no sense but that didn’t change a thing. It was such a fundamental part of who we all were and I couldn’t even begin to explain it to him. Now that I had experienced Eden for myself, I understood why our lives had been turned upside down, and all of it seemed such a paltry price to pay to safeguard something so precious, but he would never know. I just kind of sobbed and exhaled in frustration while he waited for me to say more.

‘You can’t tell me,’ he realised, with only the slightest hint of jealousy. ‘It’s okay. I understand what that’s like. I can see it was a profound experience for you and that’s all I need to know. If you want to get into Eden then I’ll do what I can to help you. Just don’t try to tell me it’s for my benefit.’

I nodded soberly. There were so many reasons for me to get into that valley; if he didn’t want to hear my main one, that was fine by me. I had plenty more.