The Whirlwind, page 9
part #3 of Imager Chronicles Series
Meanwhile, the Whirlwind was quickly shrinking and dying down. Soon it turned to nothing more than a breeze, then disappeared altogether. In a matter of seconds the room became absolutely silent.
Nathan turned to their friends. “That was incredible!”
But none of the Fayrahnians answered. Instead, they remained on their knees with their heads bowed.
“Guys?” Nathan called. “Guys, what’s wrong?”
Finally Aristophenix spoke. He kept his head lowered and his eyes fixed at the ground. His voice was soft and full of respect.
“Now you are clean,
Now you are filled.
Now you are all
What Imager willed.”
Denise and Nathan looked at each other, then back to the Fayrahnians who still remained on their knees with their heads bowed. “Come on, guys,” Nathan gave a nervous chuckle. “It’s just us.” But the Fayrahnians did not budge.
“Guys? Look, this has been a lot of fun, but I got a brother to rescue, remember?”
“Please?” It was Denise’s turn. “I don’t understand everything that’s happened, but we still need your help. Please?”
After another moment Listro Q slowly rose to his feet. He reached into his coat, pulled out the Cross-Dimensionalizer, and handed it to Nathan . . . all the time keeping his eyes lowered in respect. “Remember you still, how to use this?” he asked.
“Well, yeah . . . sure.”
“And the water from the stream,” Aristophenix said as he struggled to his feet—not an easy job for a bear almost as round as he was tall. He crossed to the canteen that had fallen from the dresser and brought it back to Nathan. But he still would not look him in the eyes. “You will also be needin’ this.”
“Nathan, look!” Denise pointed to the Bloodstone at their feet. It had solidified once again and had become a rock. She reached down and carefully picked it up. It was as cold and solid as ever.
“So, uh . . . what do we do now?” Nathan asked. “What’s the next step?”
There was still no answer.
“Will somebody give us a clue here?”
After a moment Samson replied. But even at his high speed there was no mistaking his reverence.
“What did he say?” Denise asked.
Aristophenix’s translation was simple and to the point: “Now you have Imager’s Breath. Now you will know.”
Chapter 11
Fight of Love
Back in the Sea of Justice, Joshua was on his knees sobbing. He had no choice. Wherever he looked, the mirrors reflected scenes of his past—every failure, every wrong, every mistake he had ever made. He’d forgotten most of them. But the mirrors hadn’t. Not a one. And, as he continued to watch, the mirrors moved in closer and closer, their images filling more and more of his vision. Soon, he felt the cold hard surfaces of the mirrors touching his skin. They continued pushing in, pressing against his body harder and harder, squeezing him from every side tighter and tighter until he could barely breathe. “Please,” Joshua gasped, “no more, I can’t . . . no more.”
“But this is what you wanted,” the Illusionist assured him. “This is Perfect Justice—the weight and pressure of its perfect presence.”
The scenes continued to unfold—hundreds of them. Big wrongs, little wrongs, times he made Nathan cry, times he was selfish, times he lied, times he talked behind people’s backs . . .
And with each scene, the mirrors pushed harder. The pain was unbearable. Something had to give. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the mirrors. It was Josh’s body. He could actually feel himself being crushed, hear bone and cartilage snapping. He wanted to scream but that meant having to breathe. And right now, with all the pressure, breathing was barely an option.
Then he heard it. He couldn’t see where, but there was no mistaking the clear . . .
Beep . . .
Bop . . .
Bleep . . .
burp. . .
. . . of someone cross-dimensionalizing.
When Denise and Nathan arrived it took a moment to get their bearings. (A billion mirrors pointed in a billion different directions can be a little confusing.) Still, they were beautiful mirrors—gleaming, dazzling, elegant. Mirrors that captured reflections within reflections within reflections—particularly of Denise in the splendor of her bridal gown and Nathan in his glowing suit of armor. But what of Joshua?
“Josh?” Denise called. “Joshua, where are you?”
There was no answer. Denise and Nathan exchanged puzzled looks. Aristophenix and Listro Q had promised he would be there. But where?
“Do him see you?” Listro Q’s voice asked from the Cross-Dimensionalizer in Nathan’s hand. “Do him see you?”
Nathan brought the Cross-Dimensionalizer to his mouth. “We don’t see a thing, only mirrors.”
“Are you sure you gave us the right coordinates?” Denise asked. “Remember, sometimes your aim isn’t so—”
“Right coordinates, have do you,” Listro Q answered. “Somewhere there is he. You must look care—”
“. . . here . . .”
“What did you say?” Nathan asked.
“I didn’t say anything,” Denise answered.
“Neither me,” Listro Q replied.
“. . . here . . .”
There it was again—so thin and frail that Nathan wasn’t entirely sure it was a voice.
“Here,” it repeated, a little louder. “Over here.”
Now Denise heard it, too. “Josh?” Then she spotted him. “Over there!”
Nathan followed her finger to two giant mirrors pressing together. Well, they were almost together. It seemed there was a thin something separating them. And that thin something with its feathers, six legs, and two heads looked very much like—
“Joshua!” Nathan cried. He raced around a dozen mirrors until he reached his brother. Denise was right behind him. Together, they tried to pry the giant mirrors apart.
“Help me,” Josh groaned, “help me . . . ”
“Hang on,” Nathan gasped as he pushed, then shoved with all his might. “We’ll get you out of there!”
They continued pushing, shoving, prying, and pulling. But no matter what they did, the mirrors would not budge.
“Going on, is what?” Listro Q called through the Cross-Dimensionalizer.
“The mirrors, they’re crushing Josh!” Denise cried. “We can’t . . She gave them a kick, but only managed to stub her toe. “We can’t budge them!”
“That’s because no substance has he,” Listro Q answered.
“What?” Denise demanded.
“Imager’s Breath inside Josh, is not,” Listro Q explained.
“I don’t understand!”
It was Aristophenix’s turn.
“Only Imager’s Breath
Has enough substance
To hold back them mirrors
From the crush of pure Justice.”
Listro Q continued. “Enough is not flesh and blood. Imager’s Breath only enough real is to hold back mirrors.”
Nathan thought he understood. The only thing stronger than the power of the mirrors was Imager’s Breath. With Imager’s Breath inside Josh, the mirrors could not crush him. “But,” Nathan called back, “how do we get his Breath inside him?”
The answer was clear and unmistakable. “Re-Breathed must too be he.”
Nathan nodded. Somehow, they’d have to get Josh to be re-Breathed just as they had been. But how? He threw a look over at Denise. Unfortunately, she was nowhere to be found. “Denny? Denny!” He turned and shouted into the Cross-Dimensionalizer. “Denise has disappeared! I can’t find her!”
“Find her, must you,” Listro Q ordered. “Leave her alone, must not you.”
“Denny!” Nathan shouted. “Denny, where are—” And then he heard it. Soft crying. Gentle weeping. It came from several mirrors away. “I’ll be right back,” he called to Joshua. “Don’t go anywhere.”
He raced around the mirrors searching until he finally spotted her. She was staring deeply into one of them. And she was crying . . .
“I’m sorry, Momma . . . I’m so sorry . . . ”
“Denny?” Nathan shouted as he approached. “What’s going on?”
But Denise didn’t hear. She stared at the mirror, totally captivated by what she saw.
Nathan turned to see for himself and was dumbstruck. The reflection was of a much younger Denny. The little girl was yelling at her mother, saying awful things—things that made the poor woman break into tears.
And as the older Denise watched the reflected scene, she, too, was crying. “I didn’t mean it,” she shouted to the mirror. “Momma, I didn’t mean it!”
“Going on, is what?” Listro Q called through the Cross-Dimensionalizer.
“It’s Denny,” Nathan answered. “She’s looking at herself in one of these mirrors. Only it’s her when she was a lot younger.”
“The Illusionist!” Listro Q cried.
“What?”
“One of her favorite tricks is it. To destroy Denny, she’ll try by showing all wrongs ever did she.”
Once again Nathan had to rearrange the words. “You mean she’s trying to hurt Denny by making her look at all the wrong she’s done?”
“Yes and no,” Listro Q answered. “Yes, they are wrongs Denny did, but no, exist no longer they.”
“What do you mean?”
“Clean of all wrongs is Denny. Since her re-Breath, Imager completely has forgotten them.”
Aristophenix continued. “Now it’s a matter of who she wants to believe—Imager or the Illusionist.”
“I’m not following you,” Nathan said.
“You two are now clean,
Imager sees you as Perfection.
But you must believe his Truth,
Or you’ll fall for her deception.”
“You mean the stuff in the mirrors happened, but they’re not true because . . . ”
Aristophenix finished. “ . . . because Imager has completely cleaned you. He has forgotten all your wrongs so they no longer exist.”
“So when the Illusionist says they’re true . . . ,” Nathan asked.
“ . . . lying, is she,” Listro Q finished.
Denise cried out and Nathan spun to the mirror. The scene had changed. It was another argument, only this time between her parents. The two were yelling at each other as little four-year-old Denise stood in the middle crying, begging them to stop. But they wouldn’t stop. Finally, her father turned angrily to the little girl and started yelling at her.
The older Denise watched the scene, breathless, through her streaming tears. “Daddy,” she whispered, “please . . . ”
“Stop that crying!” he shouted at the younger Denise. “Stop it right now!”
The little girl tried to stop, but couldn’t.
“I said stop it!”
She cried even harder.
Finally, the man could stand no more. He turned and stormed toward the door.
“Daddy!” the older Denise shouted. “Daddy, don’t leave!”
But the man obviously did not hear.
“Daddy, please! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
Grabbing his coat, he threw open the door, shouted a final oath, and slammed it shut behind him.
“Daddy!” Denise’s knees buckled as she dropped to the ground in front of the mirror. She began to sob. “Daddy . . . I’m sorry . . . please, come back, come back . . . ”
Suddenly the mother in the mirror looked out at the older Denise. Only she was no longer the mother. Nathan knew it instantly. She may have looked like the mother, but the voice was somebody else, somebody he recognized instantly . . . the Illusionist!
“You are the one!” the Illusionist shouted from the mirror. “You are the one who drove him away!”
“No!” Denise cried.
“He left us because of you!”
“Please!” Denise sobbed, covering her ears, trying to shut out the voice.
“It’s all your fault! You are nothing but a mean-spirited worthless brat! And he knew it!”
“Momma . . . please, I didn’t mean—”
“Your whole life has been worthless!”
“Daddy . . . ”
“You have brought only pain and misery!”
“Momma,” she cried. “Daddy . . . ”
“WORTHLESS!”
“Daddy . . . Dad . . . D . . . ” Denise could no longer speak. All she could do was sob.
But the attack still wasn’t over.
“IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER IE YOU HAD NEVER LIVED!”
Denise could give no answer.
“WOULDN’T IT?” the Illusionist demanded.
Denise continued to sob.
“WOULDN’T IT!”
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, Denise began to nod . . . as if she was worthless, as if she was a spoiled brat who brought only misery . . . as if it would have been better if she had never lived.
Nathan watched, astonished, unsure what to do. The Illusionist had her. It made no difference what the truth really was. It made no difference that Imager had absorbed all of her wrong and had made her perfect. Denise had chosen to believe the Illusionist. And by choosing to believe those lies, they became as real to Denise as if they were truth.
Suddenly, the Illusionist slammed her fist through her own reflection. It shattered into a dozen pieces of mirror that fell around the sobbing Denise. Now the Illusionist’s reflection surrounded her on every side. “Do yourself a favor,” she hissed from the broken shards. “Do us all a favor. Put an end to your wretched little existence.”
Denise looked down at the reflections around her, each of them the Illusionist.
“Go ahead, you pathetic excuse for a person—pick me up—pick me up and do us all a favor.”
Nathan watched in horror as Denise reached a trembling hand toward the biggest and sharpest piece of mirror.
“Do it,” the Illusionist whispered. “Before you cause any more misery. Do us all a favor. Do it.”
Denise hesitated.
“Do it!”
Finally, slowly she picked up the broken shard of mirror and took it into both of her hands.
“DO IT! . . . DO IT!”
She turned the pointed end toward her stomach, holding it like a sharp dagger.
“DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!”
She sucked in a final breath. She raised the dagger high over her head and—
“NOOOO!” Nathan leaped at her. He hit her so hard they both went rolling across the ocean’s floor.
“Let me go!” Denise screamed as she tried to free her hands. “Let me do it!”
“It’s a lie!” Nathan shouted. “It’s not you anymore! It’s a lie from the Illusionist!”
Denise was no match for the new, stronger Nathan. Soon he had both of her arms pinned to the ground.
“Let me go!” she screamed. “I know what I’m like!”
“It’s not you anymore! Remember Imager! Remember what he did!”
“Let me go!”
“Forget what you were! Remember who he is! Remember what he made you!”
She continued to struggle.
In a flash of inspiration, Nathan grabbed her canteen of water. He unscrewed the lid and poured the liquid onto Denise’s head and into her face. She coughed and sputtered until some finally splashed into her eyes. He took her head and forced it around to the nearest mirror. “Look at yourself!” he shouted. “See who you really are!”
At first she fought and tried to look the other way. But soon her eyes landed upon the reflection . . . and then she saw herself as Imager saw her—the glorious, majestic bride in the shimmering gown of light.
She stopped struggling and continued to stare. She was beginning to understand. She was remembering who she was.
Slowly she started to nod. And then, at last, she turned to Nathan. “Thank you,” she whispered hoarsely. “Thank you.”
When he was sure she was all right, Nathan released her. But he knew it wasn’t the end of the battle. For when he looked back at the broken pieces of mirror on the ground, there was no sign of the Illusionist. She had obviously returned to her first victim.
“Joshua!” Nathan spun around and started back to his brother. “JOSHUA!”
Chapter 12
The Final Conflict
Denise and Nathan raced back to Josh. They didn’t believe it could be possible, but the mirrors had actually crushed him flatter than before.
“I can’t,” he gasped, “I can’t hang on.”
“Joshua, listen to me,” Nathan cried. “The only way to fight these mirrors is with Imager’s Breath.”
“I don’t . . . I don’t under—”
Denise interrupted. “Imager’s Breath is more real than the power of these mirrors. With his Breath inside you, they can’t crush you!”
“How he gasped. “How do I . . . ” He winced in pain as the mirrors closed in another fraction of an inch.
“The Bloodstone!” Nathan shouted to Denise. “You got it?” “Right here.” Denise pulled it from a fold in her bridal gown. “Hold it out—let me pour the rest of the water on it.”
“What?” she cried.
“Just hold it in your hand and—”
“You’re crazy!”
“Denny . . . ”
“You saw what happened the last time we poured water on it. No way am I holding it!”
“Ahhhh!” The mirrors moved in another fraction.
“Come on, Denny! He can’t step into any pool the way he is. We have to pour the liquid Bloodstone over him.”
Denise turned to Josh. She had never seen anyone in such pain. She looked back at the Bloodstone in her hand. It was already glowing and heating up. And for good reason. Nathan had already unscrewed the canteen’s cap!
As the Bloodstone grew hotter, Denise tried not to panic. What would happen? Would it burn her? Melt her right along with it? Who knew? Who knew anything in this place?
But she did know one thing. She knew that Josh was her friend. And she knew that he could not stand any more pain.
