The Afterworld Saga — 12
“One day on Earth is one week in the Afterworld.”
The whispers overcame Nicolaus as soon as he regained consciousness. Liar! Cheat! You took MY name. You stole MY glory. But you don’t know Dimitri like I do. Surely he will trap your soul in the Afterworld forever.
“No!” Nicolaus shouted, “He chose me! Dimitri knows my true heart!”
You fool! The Dark Heart is the only true heart. The whispered voice of his dead twin brother echoed insults in Nicolaus’ mind. He squirmed under the dark pink sky as the cold grips of whisperers latched to his deep feelings of inadequacy. You’ll never be good enough. You’ll always be a failure.
Tamra jolted up from sleep. The night sky of the Afterworld was pitch black, not a star in the sky. Cold sweat dripped from her brow.
“How could I be so stupid!” Tamra cursed. The whispers began to haunt her mind and take over. Tamra, stay calm. The whispers feel on emotion remember.
“You don’t understand Leida.” Tamra said. She stood up and began pacing. The whispers nagged at her anxiety. Just take a breath Tamra, you’re calling the whisperers. Tamra did as she was told and sat back down. “Leida, we forgot my body. The Oracle said we were suppose to bring my body to the Afterworld. We have to go back.”
“No.” Roy snapped. He’d been listening the whole time. Tamra looked in Roy’s direction. It was so dark all she could see was the soft glow from hand. The light pulsated in a subtle rhythm. It was mesmerizing. “We can’t go back.”
“But the Oracle…”
“I know what the Oracle said.” Roy cut her off. “I don’t know how to explain it, but we have to keep moving forward.”
“And what if I’m trapped in Leida’s body forever?” Tamra asked, putting a hand on her hip. Roy was silent. He looked down at his hand and closed it into a fist.
“There has to be another way. All I know is we can’t go back, some unseen force is drawing me onward.” Roy explained. Tamra opened her mouth to argue, but Leida stopped her. Tamra, he’s right. I feel it too. We can’t go back. Now that we’re here, we have to move forward. There isn’t time for anything else.
“Fine.” Tamra conceded. “Let’s get going then.”
Roy didn’t speak as they trudged along in the dark. Not even Leida communicated to Tamra. The slight shift of pebbles beneath Tamra’s feet was her only reality in the darkness. She focused on each step to keep herself as far from her emotions as possible. The Afterworld had a way of exploiting all of insecurities, but she had to focus. They had a mission: retrieve the Dark Heart.
A sudden burst of flames erupted from thin air in front of Tamra and Roy. A black figure dropped from the flames onto the pebbles and the fire disappeared. Tamra could make out the silhouette of the figure against the faint pink light of the morning. It was slender and small.
Roy threw back his arm, pushing Tamra behind him. “Who’s there?”
“I mean you no harm.” the words came in a voice no louder than a wisp. Roy took a step back anyway, bumping into Tamra. “But my brothers do.”
“Brothers?” Roy asked.
“The Shadows.” The crouched figure pointed to Tamra. “She ended the Caliph’s mortality and he’s not happy.”
“My sister hasn’t done anything!” Roy argued stepping in front of Tamra.
“I’m not talking about the Host you fool. I’m talking about the Vessel.”
“How do you know about that?” Roy asked. The light from the morning illuminated the dark figure in front of them. It wasn’t long before Tamra recognized the body’s form. It was a body she was too familiar with.
“Because I’m her Shadow.”
“Wait, you’re me?” Tamra chimed in, stepping around Roy. The slender female figure was merely a silhouette even in the growing light of the morning. She was merely a shadow.
“Yes and no.” I don’t like this. Leida’s thoughts sounded in Tamra’s mind. The Shadow continued. “I was born of your when you joined the Shadows. I accompanied you. I moved through you. With you. Always with you. I felt the cold blade in my hand as we slit the Caliph’s throat. I felt the rush of the wind when we jumped from that tower. I even felt the pain as your consciousness was ripped from mine.”
“So what do you want?” Roy demanded, still trying to be protective.
“I’m here to make a deal.”
“We’re listening.”
“I want to be rejoined with the Vessel. In exchange, I will offer you protection against the Shadows.” The soft wisp of a voice left a gap of silence. Neither Roy nor Tamra said anything. No way. Leida’s voice was firm in Tamra’s mind.
“And what if we refuse?” Tamra asked.
“Then you’ll never reach Dimitri. The Shadows will hunt you down and slaughter you. If I could track you, the Caliph is not far behind. And seems how you’ve forgotten your body, you wont get far even if you do reach Dimitri. Let’s just put it this way. There is no way you can succeed without me.”
Roy shot a worried glance at Tamra. Leida, I don’t think we have a choice.
Editor’s Note: And we’re back to the Maestro himself! If you guys want to learn how to write stories, you should follow Josh’s writing on Medium closely. The next chapters are assigned to the following writers:
; June 9 ch13 — June 16; ch14 — June 23 ; ch15 — June 30 ; ch16-July 7 ; ch17 July 14 ; ch18— July 21 Ch19