Part 33 (1/2)
Only now did I understand what kind of gift I'd been given, being chosen to fight for her. For both of them.
End this, a five-fold voice commanded.
h.e.l.l, yes. I was going to end this. Right here, right now.
The Shadow Man faded in color from coal to an ashen gray. He hissed as I strode toward him, then covered his eyes. My light filled the darkness, and there wasn't any place he could hide. I swung the sword over my head and slashed down. He countered with the spear. I brushed the blow away one-handed, much like he had before. Now it was my turn to be the stronger one.
Again and again he swung and I deflected the blows like I was batting a fly. We danced around the cave, and he couldn't touch me. In desperation, he swung one more time. I ducked and the spear tip struck the wall with such force the blade embedded itself into the rock. The Shadow Man pulled at it, looking over his shoulder as I advanced. But the spear wouldn't dislodge.
His shoulders slumped as he turned to face me one last time.
One swing of the sword, and I slashed open his chest. The Shadow Man, the source of all my nightmares, fell hard against the floor. Sludge, like tar, oozed from his body onto the stone. I watched without pity as he writhed in agony. The Dark Master should have relieved his pain, but he didn't. Like all of his creations, the Shadow Man was given life, only to wither and die if he failed.
A tempest filled the room, tugging at my clothes, and the Shadow Man vanished into ashes.
My sword's light dimmed. I needed to get to Mamie before it went out entirely. Even now, shadows crowded the edges of the room and I could hear her crying softly in the dark.
My nightmares came rus.h.i.+ng back and my stomach churned. I looked all over the room. The shadows had swallowed her up. Crying in the darkness, and I couldn't find her. My light was no longer enough.
”Sis?” Where was she? We'd won-I was supposed to bring her home now.
The sword's light dulled to a faint glow and rays of light leeched from my body as well, rising to the ceiling, then winking out. The cave grew dark. Cold, so cold. I fell to my knees, staring at my chest.
The pentagram disappeared as the healed knife slash reopened. Blood trickled onto my stomach. What was happening to me?
A fine film of dust floated down from the ceiling. A few seconds later, the ground trembled. ”Mamie! Where are you?”
But it was only Tink's voice, echoed by her brothers, that I heard. I'm so sorry, Matthew.
”What?” I slumped onto the ground, hands clasped over the wound, trying to keep the blood inside where it belonged. ”Where is she? Where's my sister?”
We held the Archers in our grace for as long as we could, but now we've come to the end.
Tears filled my eyes as my ribs cracked one-by-one. Then my leg snapped and I let out a howl, unable to control myself any longer. Good G.o.d, this hurt so bad. Worse than before, so much worse, without the fight to keep me together.
You rejoined us, but now light must rise to reclaim the heavens to ensure the rift closes, so humanity is forever protected from him. Light is not meant to be earthbound. It never has been, even if we were bound here for a time. But we can be bound no longer. It's time.
Hadn't my sister said something about time? But that thought slipped away as my other cuts opened up in reverse order from when I received them. The pain was intense, but not enough to ignore what was happening around me. The tremble I'd felt before was now more distinct and the floor shook. Cracks formed in the walls. Was this place coming down? The Shadow Man was gone, but I needed Mamie. That was the only part left undone. Where was she? I had to free her, to end the war before he came into our world.
”Mamie!”
No answer.
I tried to sit up, to crawl into the darkness to find her, but agony laced itself through my veins. Metal seeped from my wounds and I moaned, unable to move. The walls shuddered and groaned and pebbles rained down all around me. The sound of men shouting in fear came through the stone. Whatever was happening in here, it was affecting the outside, too.
”It didn't work,” I whispered. ”We lost.”
”Not yet,” a soft voice said.
Light, soft as early morning, lit up the dark shadows at the back of the room, and there she was. The glow seemed to be coming from her, like it had in the Master's plane. Mamie's clothes-the clothes she'd been wearing when she was taken, not the white dress-were bloodied and torn and the shackle marks on her wrists were scabbed over, but her chains were gone. Where, I didn't know. She had pulled her hair into a long braid down her back, and she smiled as she came to my side. Without the pigtails, she looked older, more resolute.
Like a fierce statue, a warrior angel coming to my defense.
”I'm sorry I'm late,” she murmured. ”I tried and tried to rip those chains apart, but I couldn't. After you killed the Shadow, though, they just dissolved.” She held up her wrists. ”Thank you for setting me free.”
The room rumbled violently and the shouts outside turned to cries. ”Can you close the rift, then?”
”I will, but give me a minute,” she said, wiping blood from my face. ”Poor Matt. You need a hospital. And you'll get to one. I promise.”
”Mamie-” I paused to cough up something the consistency of coffee grounds, but my pain had faded to the background. I knew what that meant. I had minutes. Maybe. ”My part's done. It's your turn now. It's time to let me go so you can finish the job.”
”Not yet,” she said. Her tone was bright in the darkness. ”We have a little time.”
The arched doorway that led to the hall collapsed and stone crashed down. All around us, the walls s.h.i.+vered and shook. Outside, a strange, low growl overcame the shouts of the men. I knew, deep in my broken bones, the Master had come.
”I don't think ... we do,” I gasped. ”He's here.”
Tears ran down the sides of my face. Why couldn't I just pa.s.s out? But, no, then I wouldn't get to see my sister for the last time. Now that I was about to lose her, I couldn't get my fill of looking at Mamie. I'd never really realized how beautiful she was, here in real life. Angel didn't do her justice. Her eyes shone clear and her smile lit up the darkness.
A convulsive shudder ran through my body. Cold. Then I saw them, everyone; ghosts now, no longer mine. Ella's face that night in D.C. Will laughing at something Penn said. Uncle Mike cracking his knuckles. Mom's office, wrecked with boxes on trial week. Dad, nodding his approval. Brent ...
I'd see him soon.
”After you close ... the rift,” I managed to reach Mamie's cheek, touch her face. ”Tell everyone ... I love them. Tell Ella-”
Mamie pressed her hands to her eyes. ”Stay strong-understand me? You'll be all right. I promise.”
Every breath was a struggle. ”You need ... to face it .... I'm dying.”
”No, Matt. Your life is my gift,” she murmured. ”The prize for following through.” Mamie glanced up at the ceiling and nodded. ”Last wishes, remember?”
I forgot the pain a minute. My heart squeezed. ”Sis? What are you-?”
Mamie moved to the center of the cavern, heedless of the falling rocks and not seeming to care about the large crack opening up in the floor behind her. She smiled. ”You're hurt really badly, so I don't blame you for being a little slow.”
I stared at her. She was so calm, so serene. ”I don't understand-”
”It's like Tink told you-Light isn't earthbound,” she said. ”It belongs to the stars, as it always has. And my time has come.”
Tears ran down her face, but she looked fulfilled in a way I'd never seen. Thousands of hints came roaring back. The fact she dropped out of school. The sad, exhausted demeanor in D.C. The distance. Her reminder never to forget who I was. To always remember her love. To do what I had to do.