20. WORLDS END

WORLD'S END

T he sickening lurch of exiting a gate had Christian gritting his teeth in order to keep from vomiting. He didn't think he'd ever get used to that. Teleporting was almost just as bad and he'd been teleported plus gone through a gate. He really deserved a prize for not throwing up all over Julian's boots.

But the nausea he felt fell away as he saw what was before them. The gate had taken them to a new area of the Ever Dark. They were standing at the top of a rocky path on the side of a mountain. The path led down towards a gorge below them that was shrouded in mist. He felt the pull of the Harrows' souls from somewhere beyond that mist. But that was not what caught and kept his attention.

The moons…

The twin moons…

They were broken. Shattered . It was as if a giant had cut them in two and then smashed the remaining pieces into bits. They were breaking further apart. The force of whatever had done this was still causing them to hurtle away from one another. The destruction was shocking. What could have done that? What was going to happen to the Ever Dark because of it?

"What's happened here?" Julian breathed out.

Julian's face was lit with the red and blue destroyed moons. There was pain in his eyes as if he were seeing a beautiful work of art marred beyond repair. Christian agreed with him. This was wrong .

There were red streaks in the night sky. Pieces of the moons were falling towards the Ever Dark. Some would burn up in the atmosphere, but others? Others might be too big.

Might be? No, some are too big. And when they strike the ground…

He thought of the Tunguska Event in 1908 in Russia. It was a massive explosion that flattened 80 million trees, but, thankfully, only killed three people because it happened over a sparsely occupied region. The thinking was that the explosion was caused by an impact event by a meteorite though no crater had been found to this day. His mind then danced to what he'd read of the Chicxulub crater in the Yucatan. The timing of that impact coincided with the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary and was commonly thought to have led to climate change that killed the dinosaurs. The chunks of moons–if they made their way down to the Ever Dark's surface–would make those impacts seem like a light pat.

Everything will be destroyed. How could this have happened in the short time since we were in Solace? And wouldn't the Vampires there have alerted us? Wouldn't Daemon have sensed it?

"Was this what Seeyr saw?" Christian asked. "And, if so, why didn't she just speak plainly! For God's sake, there are people here!"

Perhaps not here . Not in Moonfall. But what about the other Vampire cities? People had to be evacuated. Precious objects of art, magical weapons, and any texts had to be saved. As much as could be saved. He assumed that the Vampires would know this. Would see the devastation and run for their Second Lives.

But it would be better if they had a leader. Already, things probably seem apocalyptic to them with Daemon's return and the end of the Order...

He turned to look back at the location of the gate they had come through. But it was no longer there. Like the one that had taken them to Nighvallen, this gate was a one-way ticket. There was no way to simply go back. Christian tried to reach Balthazar's mind, to tell him what they were seeing, but he could not sense his Master at all. He swallowed dryly.

"Perhaps we should not have gone here on our own. This is beyond us," Christian stated, feeling that this was simply too big for them to handle.

"We had to. No choice. The only way this will work," Julian whispered, even as the horror grew on his face.

"What to work?" Christian demanded.

Julian seemed to have more knowledge than he did. He trusted his best friend implicitly, but he wanted to know what was going on.

"Everything. The way things will be. If we stayed, it would be awful. We had to come here, Christian. We had to come alone." The words rushed out of Julian's mouth. "And if we succeed, everything will be fine. I can't explain it. I don't know why. But it's true."

"How can everything be fine with this?" Christian gestured to the destruction.

He saw Julian's Adam's apple bob up and down his throat as his best friend swallowed deeply. "I don't know."

Christian could feel Julian's terror for Daemon. His best friend feared that he had left the Vampire King the one time that Daemon might have actually needed him. But there was also a strong thread of certainty that this was the right move.

We're here and it cannot be undone. So I must make him focus on that certainty. I will as well.

"Don't get me wrong, Julian," Christian said, not wanting his best friend to think he regretted anything. He didn't. "I think it's fitting that you and I are on our own in the Ever Dark. This is how we began our journey after all. It also may be how we end it."

Julian's gaze swung from the destroyed moons to him. "This isn't the end."

Christian hadn't actually meant to say that. He opened his mouth to say something, but then the ground suddenly rumbled beneath his and Julian's feet and his words were lost. Julian reached out and caught Christian's arm, helping to steady him. There was a cracking sound and Christian saw a rift open on the ground ahead of them. The path started to collapse into it.

"C'mon!" Julian cried. "Run for it!"

The two of them dashed forward at Vampire speed. Then they both leaped as the ground crumbled beneath them. They landed gracefully on slightly firmer earth on the opposite side. Christian spun around to see the place where they had been standing only to see it slide into an abyss. And that wasn't the end of the destruction. The path was still disintegrating. Both of them took several large steps back as the ground proceeded to shake and shimmy like someone trying to get into too tight pants. He closed his eyes and counted to ten. The movement stopped. He opened his eyes and let a breath hiss out of his teeth.

"What's happening?" Julian asked.

"The Ever Dark is coming apart!" Christian cried.

It wasn't just the moons. It was this entire place. That wasn't a scientific determination. It was simply a factual statement. He had no idea what was going on. But it was clear that it was something world ending.

"But how? Why? Did Daemon know? Did Seeyr? Is this happening everywhere?" Julian asked the questions that were on Christian's mind. But then a sudden strange look crossed his best friend's face. Julian's eyes went from purple to red and it was as if he wasn't seeing anything before him any longer. He winced and put his right hand to his temple. "Ah!"

"What is it?" Christian was immediately in front of him.

"Seeyr… her gift. It's a son of a bitch. I don't know how Sophia is so nice and perky all the time. Everytime I see the future it feels like my brains are leaking out of my ears," Julian remarked with a dry laugh.

"Did you at least see something?" Christian wondered if he wanted to know what was coming.

Julian's eyes narrowed and his forehead furrowed. "I could see…"

Christian couldn't bear the silence as it stretched out for too long in his opinion. "What?"

Julian drew in deep breaths to steady himself and slowly lowered his hand. "The end."

The end of what? Wait! I don't want to know.

But he didn't have a chance to say that out loud as Julian was suddenly turning and heading down the path that was left before them.

"C'mon. We have to get going. I don't think there's much time. Can you sense my parents?" Julian asked.

"I can." Christian jogged to reach his best friend's side. "Straight ahead. Into that mist we can't see past."

Julian let out a dry chuckle. "Of course. That would be where we need to go."

The two of them loped down the path in silence. There were more ominous rumbles and the ground continued to tremble beneath their feet. Yet now that they were expecting the seismic activity, both of them kept upright easily. But Christian's chest grew tight every time the ground shook.

The path could give out. A chunk of moon could fall on their heads. Julian could teleport them again, he supposed, hopefully onto more stable ground. But Christian still felt his heart lurch when the ground did. This was all wrong, wrong, wrong. The Ever Dark was as eternal as…

Daemon, Christian thought with unease. The connection Daemon has to the Ever Dark is profound. If this is happening all over it then… no, it must not be. It must only be happening here. A place where Daemon cannot go… But that makes no sense! Isn't the Ever Dark one place?

But maybe it wasn't. Balthazar had described each Ever Dark city as a pocket universe. No one had ever been able to go from one city in the Ever Dark to another. Maybe because the creatures that infested the place were simply too fearsome for even Vampires. But maybe the cities simply weren't in the same Ever Dark at all, but in all different Ever Darks.

Then maybe this is the only place falling apart? That sounds way too hopeful.

The mist was now not below them, but all around them. It curled almost sensuously around their limbs. Christian had the impression that it might tighten its grip and yank them into a foul embrace of some monster. But though the mist dimmed their ability to see what was coming more than three feet ahead of them, their other senses became keener.

Christian could smell the stone of the mountain. Minerals and icy water. He let one free hand drift along the mountain wall. The mist left it clammy and slick, but he wasn't sure how much of the path remained on the other side of them. Better to stick close to it. Every step they took caused a faint echo that told him that there was a considerable drop to the left of them.

"We don't know how to get back, Julian," Christian said suddenly. "Unlike with Nightvallen, we don't have your parents' journals to lead us to the way out."

He could see his best friend's jaw tighten. "I imagine if the way out is not obvious then Caemorn would have told me about it."

"Assuming it has not crumbled away or been cut off by a rock slide. So it was Caemorn who urged you to do this? So he was the one to lead us here," Christian murmured. "I thought perhaps it was Seeyr, Fiona or Sophia."

"No, they said what they felt and knew out loud for everyone to hear, I think," Julian answered. "Caemorn pointed out the fact that--"

"We couldn't ask for permission to go? We just had to? Yes, that would be his way and his thinking on things," Christian said with a nod.

"He was right. Daemon and Balthazar would never put us in danger like this, even to save themselves," Julian said as he surged forward faster.

There was a far more threatening rumble and rock and dirt fell down upon them. Christian looked up and saw that the way into the gorge was through a narrow pass between two sides of the mountain. It appeared the mountain was hollow in the middle. Perhaps an old volcano? He wasn't sure.

"Let's get to a clearer space," Christian urged as a chunk of stone the size of a baseball smacked into the ground right where his left foot had been seconds before. The whoosh of air had alerted him to its approach and he had gotten out of its way lightning quick.

"Right."

They dashed through the narrow part of the path and just as they made it to the other side there was a crashing sound and the ground seemed to dance beneath them. Looking over his shoulder, Christian saw that stones had rained down and blocked their way back.

"I'm glad our destination is forward," Christian stated.

"Y-yeah," Julian agreed.

Christian heard his best friend think, Please tell me that I haven't brought Christian to another place in the Ever Dark to die.

"You haven't. I wouldn't have let you go without me. And, remember, the two of us had to go." Christian patted Julian's shoulder.

"You're getting better at reading minds." Julian gave him a mirthless smile.

"And you're getting better at everything else."

Christian's gaze was drawn below them. The mist cleared for a moment and he could see the bottom of the gorge. There was a rectangular white stone structure surrounded by trees with one of those white stone pathways leading toward it. Part of the roof was caved in and Christian could see a faint glow emanating from inside. The glow was golden and flickering.

"A fire?" Julian had seen it too.

"Maybe."

"Are my parents' soul gems in there?" Julian asked.

The building was the only structure in the bowl-shaped depression, but there was no saying that Artemis-Kaly had left the gems inside. Christian closed his eyes and felt for the silver threads that would lead him to the Harrows' souls. Even with his eyes closed he could still see the path in front of him, though it was in black and white instead of color. The two streaming lines of silver threads led directly into the building. He opened his eyes.

"Yes, they're inside!" Christian's heart leaped into his throat as he said it.

Could they really be so close to Julian's parents? Would it be possible to bring them back? His excitement was so keen that it caused a bitter metallic taste to flood his mouth as adrenaline squirted into his bloodstream. Julian's emotions were so huge that Christian couldn't even feel the edges of them. Without words, the two of them started down the path again.

It goes without saying that there will be traps. Artemis-Kaly wouldn't have let the soul gems go unprotected.

As they approached the end of the path, Christian took in the stone structure. Unlike the cities that appeared to be part of the Ever Dark landscape, almost as if they had been grown there, this structure was different. Though it was made of the same white stone that characterized most structures in the Ever Dark, there were seams showing how various hunks of stone had been placed one atop the other and cemented in place. That was not how the rest of the Ever Dark structures were at all. They were smooth and without seams. Christian also saw that there were carved decorations on the various chunks of stone. None of them matched the other though.

"Someone has built this with pieces of other Ever Dark structures," Christian realized and frowned.

This couldn't have been done quickly or easily. Someone had taken time to do this. They had been deliberate. There was a cracking sound and the ground began to shake again. Another slab of roof crashed down inside.

"My parents!" Julian cried.

Christian could very well imagine the gems getting crushed beneath those white stones. Both of them picked up speed.

"I'm going to teleport in and--"

Twin roars cracked the sky as the trees on either side of the structure began to bend and lean as two somethings made their way through the forest towards them. He and Julian froze in their tracks, staring, even as they both knew that they needed to run into the structure, get the soul gems and run… But to where?

There was no sign of a gate out. The path behind them was impassable. Julian could teleport them, but not without knowing where he was going. They were stuck down here unless and until they found a gate back.

More roars. They started deep and ended in high-pitched almost hyena laughs. The hair on the back of Christian's neck stood up on end. There was more snapping as the trees made way for the two things coming. Christian got his first glimpse of them.

They stood over twelve-feet tall. Their skin looked to be mottled gray. They had stump-like legs, a barrel-chested torso and a long, bulbous head. Dozens of black eyes blinked from the faceless head. Shove-like jaws opened and shut, revealing sharp eye teeth, but also huge molars that could crush bone. Overlong arms hung to their knees ending in monstrous hands. Every finger was tipped with a claw. The flesh there was black and Christian wondered if there was some kind of poison on them.

"Head for the building!" Julian yelled.

But then one of the things brushed a brutish shoulder against the right stone wall. The wall cracked. A flare of anger appeared in the dozens of black eyes as if the building had jumped out at the creature and it slammed a mighty fist against the wall. It went through the stone as if it were paper.

"No," Julian let out a moan.

"We have to draw them away from the building. They could bring it down and we'll be fishing through rubble for ages looking for the soul gems if they aren't crushed outright!" Christian cried.

"Right." Julian cast around. "The top of the path! We'll lead them up there then I'll teleport us into the building. They'll think we just disappeared. Sound like a plan?"

"But they'll still be here with us. And we need to find that gate," Christian pointed out.

Julian let out a wild laugh. "I can't think of anything else! It's gotta do for now!"

Christian didn't answer as Julian was right. So instead, he booked it back up the path they had just been coming down. The ground shook again, but this time from the ungainly creatures running after them. Despite their size, they were fast. But he and Julian were faster.

They made it to the top of the path where the rockslide cut off their escape. Christian skidded to a halt and spun around to face their pursuers. They would need to wait to teleport until the creatures were almost upon them to confuse them fully, Christian thought. The creatures were far closer than Christian expected them to be. Julian grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together.

"Get ready," Julian said under his breath. "Get ready."

The creatures were twenty feet away then fifteen then ten. Their massive fists reached above their sloping heads and that terrible roar-hyena laugh exited their mouth as one as they believed they had their prey. Christian swallowed, preparing his stomach for teleporting. Hopefully, the amount of the interior of the building that Julian could see was enough for him to teleport them to. He smelled the creatures' foul breath. His eyes flickered over to Julian. Julian though wasn't looking at him or the building, but at a ledge above them where the loose rocks had rained down earlier.

"I've got a better plan!" Julian let out another wild laugh.

Before Christian realized what that plan was, they were teleporting up to that ledge.

"Help me! Help me push this on top of them!" Julian yelled as he launched his right shoulder at a boulder that had slid down, but remained precariously perched on the edge.

Christian didn't need to be asked twice. He slammed his shoulder against it too. Between them the boulder shifted and groaned. Dirt rained down upon the creatures, but they didn't seem to understand the danger they were in. Instead, the creatures jumped up and down, arms outstretched towards their prey that had somehow slipped from their grasp.

"PUSH!" Julian shouted.

Both of them strained and the boulder--as big as a garage--moved. It rolled forward and then… free fall! The creatures realized at the last second their fate, but they only had time to open those shove-like jaws before there was a wet splat and the crunch of bone. Blood, looking black and thick, poured out from under the boulder that had found its mark.

"YES!" Julian laughed.

They gave each other a high-five. Christian was grinning from ear to ear.

"That was not as bad as I thought it would be!" Christian confessed. "Kaly really fell down on that defense."

"They weren't one of my defenses," a familiar voice drawled. "They were just two stupid creatures that had wandered into my lair as the world falls down."

Christian's head snapped towards the sound. There was a figure in black with platinum hair standing in the doorway, leaning against the door jam with a negligent air of grace.

"Caemorn?!" Julian asked. His voice was full of shock and relief but also confusion.

There was no relief though for Christian. The hair that had been standing up on the back of his neck because of those creatures was still standing upright.

"Caemorn? How are you here?!" Julian laughed. "Not that I'm complaining but--hold on, we'll come down."

Christian grasped his best friend's arm and squeezed it so tightly that Julian's head jerked to the side.

"That's not Caemorn… I mean it is , but…" Christian couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before. That none of them had seen it. But now, it was as plain as day or night. He would recognize that soul anywhere.

"Christian, what--"

"Julian, he's Kaly," Christian said. "Caemorn is Kaly."

Story Concludes in Book 9!