The Book of Shadows: End of Times

Part I: Chapter 4 ( Continue )

   «Where to, now?» I asked Priscilla, who was running beside me, sending her wolf to scout in the front. 

   «If we leave this place in one piece, we’ll dive immediately into the past,» she said, sounding sure about the plan that had formed in her head. I could only trust her but the temptation of using my ability right then and there was nearly impossible to be resisted! Before I could take the chance to ask her what we were waiting for she stopped, grabbing my shirt, not letting me go any further.

    «What?! What is it?» I whispered.

   The route we took was different than the one we followed to get in the garden, so we wouldn’t have to come face to face with Daddy Time again. It was possible that this hallway wasn’t the one to lead us out of the observatory but I thought that, with my new abilities at hand, the time we’d spent here would have absolutely no meaning. 

   «Someone is up ahead» the witch warned me, keeping her eyes on the floor, right before the corner. A head was coming out of the moquette, one of her Shadow People who was communicating with her in a way I couldn’t understand.

   «Why are you frightened, sister? Don’t you remember me?». A voice that sounded like a goose in labor was calling for the witch, right behind the corner. I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman but I didn’t have the curiosity to learn. Slowly, we heard it drag its feet to the floor, coming our way and, by scratching the crystal walls, empty now and dry, it made a spine-chilling noise. 

   «Haven’t you missed us? You were gone for so long!». Priscilla made a step back but she stopped, seeing some of her shadow-servants on that side becoming uneasy the more she tried to turn around. «Have one of those moments ready in your mind and be ready to time-jump when I say “Rewind”!» she directed me. 

   «It’s rude not to show yourself or share your name» the witch proclaimed. She wouldn’t have said that, knowing what was hiding on the other side of the wall. Her book of spells was open and floating by her but she seemed hesitant to use it.

   Looking around, I could only count on her magic to protect us, since our spot didn’t provide us with many strategic options. That hallway was less lighted than the one we had come from and held no doors or furniture. I was thinking about time-jumping right then and there but the witch wanted to know the level of the threat we were facing.

   The being that appeared out of that corner was so freakish that made Charon look like the tooth fairy! The monster was like a living mummy without wearing any bandages! His skin had a grey or a really dirty green shade, being dried out and cracked, peeling off his body, face, and skull. Underneath it, there was no living tissue` rather scabs, black and full of dead parasites. His legs were only skin and bones, his toenails were so long they had infiltrated his feet! His arms were long and skinny like Chronos’s but, he could only use one of them- scratching the wall with his dirty hard fingernails- while the other was disabled, broken, deformed, and he was leaning on it, using it as a cane. A few white hairs were dangling, coming down from his head up to his knees, his teeth were all in place but his gums were eaten up to the bone. The tip of his nose was missing, his cheeks were sunken deep in his face, his neck was as thin as his spine! The only human thing about him- and that made him even creepier- was his lively eyes, big, round, and healthy, almost tearing up when he saw us. I wanted to look away, feeling like my brain was collapsing only by looking at him!

   Priscilla was also overwhelmed by the man who was walking slowly, trying to reach us with his extended hand calling for help. The witch needed only to touch her tome of spells and search inside it to seek the knowledge it held for this man, hidden somewhere deeper than just written in its pages. 

   «Don’t touch him!» she warned me quickly like I would go and hug the weakly corpse! 

   «Stand your ground, god! I’m not your sister!» the witch stated, checking her informants on the other side of the hallway. 

   «Remember me, sister! We reigned together when the world was still new!» he tried to convince her. 

   «Your sister died a long time ago,» she said, feeling sorry for him.

   Geras was the god who protected those of old age. In his days of power, he blessed those who lived through their silver years with fame or helped them understand the meaning behind the tragedies they had to face in their lives. His days of glory were long gone though. What was left of the once-respected god was now an old shell of a man with dementia.

   «You bear her powers, woman, you bear her sins! If I was to take your shadow, I could bring her to life!» the man startled with his sore voice. 

   «I doubt that you can but, beyond that, I doubt that you would want to» the witch replied, without faltering. 

   «That’s true. No one in their right mind would bring her back! Heheh!» he chattered. 

   «Why is the god of time so eager to stop us? What is he gaining from this?» she asked him fiercely. 

   «Father keeps his reasons to himself. We only obey his every order: “Kill the wolf, kill the witch!”» he mumbled. 

   «Too bad you don’t have what it takes to do that. Move aside!» she ordered him. 

   «Not on my own, I don’t. But this is a big house! A house open to those who have nowhere else to go, to those who long to return to their family!»

   A black ooze poured out of the other corner, behind us, flooding the mansion with its smelly semi-liquid body! It looked like oil in a weird Jell-O state, rotting everything unlucky enough to be devoured by it! 

   «Hahahahaha! Goodbye mortals!» Geras laughed maniacally, raising his arm to prevent us from escaping. Alexander fell on him, biting him with such strength, we heard the geezers bones c***k under his nasty looking teeth! If he tasted as awfully as he looked, I’d feel sorry for the witch’s familiar. The old god kept laughing as he was eaten by the feral beast but total madness was not to blame. As he was touching that living corpse, the wolf started losing his fur and then his fangs! Soon enough, he left his dying breath, laying on that man! 

   «No!» Priscilla cried! Upon her familiar’s death, her book of spells closed shut and flew away! Her powers had deserted her. 

   «Aah! I’ll make sure this is your last incarnation, Neraya. No one will be born in this dimension again for your shadow to cling on a soul. You’ll end up like your beloved “People of Abyss”» he said tiredly, with his last breath. He was ready to sacrifice himself along with us! 

   «Rewind!» Priscilla shouted, when I was too absorbed, looking at the black fluid coming like a wave, looking to destroy us! «Now!» she screamed, watching her legs turning to cinder! I was like: “Oh, s**t! That’s my liiineeee”! Just kidding, I responded before she could take half a breath! 

   «Go!*».

   «Don’t touch him!» she warned me. I made it back! 

   «Be careful, he’s stalling! A black sticky Jell-O is coming to drown us all as we speak!» I freaked! 

   «Hm? A seer? How could that be?» the old f**k complained. I was relieved to see both Alexander and the Book still under her authority.  

   «Time to move then! What do I do?» she asked. I thought for a second about it. 

   «Do the thing! The ooze will come and drown him after we’re gone!» I suggested. 

   «Works for me! Spellbinding Circle!» she cast, trapping the old crock inside the star-shaped sigil. 

   «Now we run!».

                                                                                   -/-

   Leaving that trial behind us, the witch, the wolf, and I advanced further away, turning left in the first crossroad, following the shadow people who were directing us to the safest route.

   «I could time-jump into the past right now, you know! We don’t have to go through this trouble» I shared my opinion, in case Priscilla had missed the obvious.

   «If you do that, you’ll have doomed our chance to save the world. There something that still needs to be taken care of, once we’re outside» she explained vaguely, leaving me with more questions than answers. 

   «Did we get anything else out of that god?» she asked me. I tried to remember our conversation with him.

   «Something along the line of, “If you want to be reincarnated, you’d better not die here”» I figured. She wasn’t surprised at that.

   Our expedition led us back to the maintenance room, at a lower level than the one we visited before. The door in front of us was leading to a platform that had the role of a bridge, connecting the right side of the mansion with the left. In the middle of the platform, a pillar was emerging, passing through each of the mansion’s floors, holding up the central part of the Grant Telescope, all the way to the roof. A vast, endless pit, filled with gears, bolts, and rails was extended for miles below us, with its parts moving non-stop, giving motion or energy to something besides the artifact, as I initially thought` perhaps, the complicated engine was powering up the whole house!

   «Stop! Something’s coming!» said the witch suddenly. I stayed alarmed, trying to hear what the witch had sensed. The platform underneath was trembling slightly but the tremor was increasing with every passing second. I was terrified with the thought of the black ooze catching up with us but the stamping feeling suggested otherwise. 

   «Alexander! I need you to cooperate now more than ever!» Priscilla begged her wolf to work with her. The grey wolf didn’t show any ambition but he preceded to the door on the other side of the bridge-like platform, waiting for his mistress’s orders. Priscilla raised her staff in front of her, forming an invisible infinity symbol in mid-air, above her familiar’s head, letting another one of her “instant spells” manifest.

   «Rise» the witch commanded, right on the moment when a flock of toy birds made its appearance! Arriving from the other side of the mansion, the human-sized, manmade birds were equipped with sharpened metal beaks and lethal sickle-shaped talons, ready to rip the skin from our bodies. At the same time, Alexander was getting larger by the moment! His animal characteristics were being replaced by those of a monster! Due to the witch’s spell, his head was three times bigger and a new set of teeth had outgrown the old ones, which had fallen down. His canine teeth didn’t stop until they reached the size of tusks! His eyes had turned yellow, harboring a rage that was hidden well under them in his domesticated form! His fur was rough and his skin got thicker, providing him with a natural armor, his tail grew longer and his tip was curved, hardened, looking more like a saber now, ready to slice those chicks in half! The muscles around his limbs and paws were enlarged too, granting him potentially more speed and the ability to jump higher than before. His muzzle was shortened, giving him the impression of an ape or a chupacabra.

   The beast protected the bridge, smashing every wooden bird, which was marching towards us, under his fangs or slashing them, kicking them out of the platform, into the gigantic engine. Thankfully, this titanic machine had enough power to turn them into chopsticks! Even the metallic parts were deduced to nothing! However, their numbers were far too many and they had Alexander overwhelmed, nearly buried alive under them!

   «Retreat! We climb!» Priscilla decided, seconds before our other problem reappeared! The black ooze was approaching fast, swallowing everything on its passage! Alexander shook off the toys from his back, making room for the witch to ride him. 

   «Have your time-jump ready» she repeated as she pulled me on the beast’s back. My hands were bleeding as I tried to grab on from him but I endured it without a word. The beast climbed on the golden pillar, reaching the next level of the maintenance room easily, and kept on, aiming for the observatory’s roof! The birds were pretty capable of climbing up too, following us without much trouble but, the ooze got the most of them before it fell to the engine!

   «Decay was the one after us?» the witch realized. Decay was a lesser demon, a consciousness without a body that was banished from the world after the Great Plague. Even discomposed, part of it was still trying to make the gears and the pillar rot but gold never ages and so, both the Telescope and the engine were safe.

   «I didn’t know it had a name» I defended myself, exhausted from the chase, watching the black thing giving up on its efforts. However, the remaining birds were coming after us without any intention of letting us get away.

   The top floor of the observatory was almost empty- to our relief, that is! Like a forgotten attic it only held rails, supporting the artifact that was extending out of the building, and a lever, perhaps the one that controlled the roof’s opening and closing mechanism. The Grant Telescope looked much more appealing up close! Its body was made out of solid gold and it was decorated with beautiful marks and curved lines that reminded me of sprouts, or cloth, or rivers! Immortal, immovable, extraordinary! I couldn’t think of any other words that could describe it!

   Priscilla looked back, checking on the birds that were gaining on us. «Go. Destroy them» she commanded, piercing her evil-looking creature’s eyes with her glare. Alexander jumped back down, facing Chronos’s servants on his own before they could get to us. 

   «Now it’s time for your initiation,» she said, looking at me with a calm expression. I had some sense of what was about to happen but I preferred to keep my mouth shut. I didn’t hold it against her, it was what had to be done. 

   «What should I do?» I asked her relaxed- to my surprise! 

   «Forgive me, I guess. I won’t be remembering any of this anyway» she reminded me.

   Opening her book of shadows, the witch dropped two droplets of her blood on its pages. The book was lowering, as if the witch’s blood made it heavier somehow, until it reached the floor. Burning marks started appearing all around it, even if the platform’s surface was dressed in gold! Two circles were drawn by invisible forces, combined in a disharmonious way, like they were trying to infiltrate one another. Inside them, characters and symbols of unknown languages were carved, words that couldn’t be pronounced. Scripts like those were alien to humans, coming from an era, long before our kind established a civilization. The smaller circle was for the book, our judge in this sinful ritual that was taking place in the house of a god! The witch and I stood in the other one. When we walked inside, a spell, written in hieroglyphs, appeared on the 169th page of the blood-baptized tome. Once again, I started doubting if the girl I followed all the way here was to be trusted.

   «You can read that?» I asked her, nodding towards the book. 

   «I never tried before» she answered honestly, scanning the page.

   The witch relaxed her body, thinking of what to do next. She wasn’t certain if she was doing the right thing but, then again, who can ever be in times like those? 

   «Boy! I am Neraya, the Mistress of Shadows! I offer you immortality. Your soul will exist forever! No matter your sins or your good deeds, the pain or happiness you caused or received, you will be born again as a resident of the “Kingdom”» she proclaimed formally. 

   «Your shadow will be signed away in the book. To access the powers you gained, you’ll need to pay a price» she continued. 

   «Ehm…understood» I answered.

«I pray to Your name, Gaia, Empress

You who bless with gifts, who bless with power!

I pray to You, holy, endless

Your every breath a storm, Your every tree a tower

With blood from my body, with a divine name

A witch, a sinner, a bearer of bad fame

I curse the soul of this young mortal

To his shadow, I provide a portal

To avoid death, avoid judgment

To be born again and find adjustment.

A caster, a magician

I call the Scales of Justice

In the grimoire I write the rules

My role I need to practice

Inside me, come guide me

Wise High Priestess

Decide the price to be paid

I ask for your assistance

A favor only, oh, mighty one, the spell as I cast

His soul to return each other time further into the past»

      Priscilla had suddenly fallen into some kind of delirium, conducting with powers invincible, unreachable, long forgotten! The Shadow People were gathering around us as the witch was binding my soul to her magical tome. There were so many of them, more than she had originally summoned(!), levitating into the room or crawling on the floor, moving aimlessly, like they didn’t know why they were there! Buckets of blood were coming out of the book, covering the magic circles entirely and erasing all evidence of the alienated scripture. Priscilla’s body was trembling, as she was standing on the tip of her toes, reaching high pinch notes with her voice for such a duration, that it seemed like she was possessed. The book was shaking like it was trying to rip itself apart! Priscilla nearly stopped breathing in an agonizing effort to speak!

   «W..nd» she mumbled.

   «Rewind?» I tried guessing.  

   «Mmghf» she denied with a painful expression. The Shadow People created a passage for us to the roof’s opening, showing me what she wanted to tell me but, an attempt to escape from there by ourselves would be suicidal. A crazy thought was telling me, that’s exactly what the witch was struggling to achieve. Charon, Priscilla performing this ritual, her refusing to let me time-jump up till then! “If I’m mistaken, I can always go back,” I thought. “Unless I die in the process” the logical voice in my mind complained!

   I didn’t know what happened to Alexander back then but, I never saw him again. I grabbed Priscilla’s weightless body and jumped out of that paranormal observatory, right down at the navy blue stairs. I must say here that Charon went out of his way to help us, bringing his boat ashore for us to land inside it. Not that it helped by much` my leg got twisted for trying to land on my back and some of my ribs broke but I managed to keep the witch safe, with just some minor bruises. The Ferryman was looking at me like he was waiting for my instructions.

   «To a place where new souls are born…?» I said cautiously. Him not reacting made my body severely heavier out of my worries that we’d die sooner than we should! Taking a look at the woman in my arms, Charon drifted away from the mansion. Standing on the boat’s bow- his favorite spot to seat, he raised both his hands upwards.

   The dark angel opened his arms wide, dividing the starry sea in two! Underneath its surface, there were no colors or reflections of the stars. The deep part of this endless ocean resembled perfectly that void part of the sky, where no light had ever existed. Charon turned the vessel around, letting our side of the boat to dive first into this watery grave. Steadily, he pulled- what I thought to be- his puddle out of the sea, exposing its true nature to my eyes! Lifting his incomprehensible scythe above his head, with his pseudo-wings rising behind him, he flew out of the bony raft, hovering above the rift he created, untouched by my horrified face, and watching as we were falling to our doom! And then, again, I fainted.