The Afterworld Saga — 8
Chapter 8 — The Body That Wants To Live
The opening of the chasm bewildered the Sorcerer.
For decades, the beginning and end of the Festival of the Dead starts with his incantation; a warning which came decade ago from the Oracle of Themis:
“The Vessel and the Key shall open the chasm. The rift shall open the portal of the the dead and the dead One shall be the barrier which guards the living from the fall and keeps the dead from rising. If the gateway is not closed within the eight days, the God of death will feast and the barrier will never shut.”
History has no recollection of what may happen when the rift between both worlds become a passage for all.
“Not today! Not today!!” Screamed the Sorcerer in a frenzied panic.
“I wa..s warned. The warn…in…g of the Ora..cle has c..c…ome to pass.”
No one could pick his words. They all stood and cheered his words thinking it is part of the incantation.
He slumped to the ground just above the cliff in exhaustion and disappointment. He rolled to the side, picked his staff and made a cross at the point where he had seen Roy and Leida.
Out of those left at the festival, only he knew and saw what had happened. His incantations sent two people into the Afterworld.
“They are meant to be three! Where is the body? I counted two!” He recounts while walking haphazardly like a man that has drunk the wine of the gods.
He is the guardian of the realm and he is seeing this for the first time. He had heard stories of Vessels and Keys that crossed to the Afterworld millennia ago but the count is always three, the lifeless body. Never has he heard two crossed.
Shaking visibly and talking to himself, he counts — “One, The Vessel , the body that wants to live; Two, the Soul of the body that fears no death or gods; and Three, the Key that faces an evil the world has forgotten. Something is wrong. The chasm has been opened. It cannot be closed until they are back. If they were three, I may not mind an eternal trap but two…TWO? This is bigger than me. I must consult the Oracle at once”
Like a mad goose on a timed race, he ran off to see the Oracle.
Meanwhile, the members of the church stared in awe as to the Sorcerer’s actions. The incantations are always dramatic but this one went off course. The finger counting and murmuring is summarized as a conversation with the God of death.
“What brings you here, protector and guidian of the realm? You are to be at the festival receiving gifts from those who are missing their loved ones.” Said the Oracle.
“The Vessel and the Key are in the Afterworld!” shouted the Sorcerer in haste.
“That I am aware of. It is I, who sent them. They came hoping to be separated.” The Oracle answered
Yes. But they left without the body.
For a moment, the voice of the Oracle froze, the noises of the shrine died; even the solitary moment smelt of fear.
“This is bad! No living can touch the Dark Heart of Dimitri, for he loses guard of his heart when he sucks on the dead. You have to take the body and find them.”
“Are the odds in my favour?” The Sorcerer asks
History records no such event. Take the body and search for them. It lies on the bush path beneath the King’s Castle. The Assassins made an attempt to move it from the public view.”
“I must be off at once.”
“You should hurry!”
“If you do not return on the seventh day, the gods of the Afterworld and Oracles of the west will gather at the Solstices to choose a new sorcerer to seal the rift. The dead cannot rise and the living cannot fall.”
Gathering the ripped gown tied to his waist by a single rope on one hand and his staff as guide on the other while on bare feet, he rushed into the night in search of Tamra’s body.
By the time he got there, it was noticeably darker. With the illumination of the moon, the staff canvassed the dewy bushes. At the foot of the entrance, he struck something. He draws closer and the stricken foul smell of death mixed with stale blood greets his nostril.
He swings around the body bringing the grasses lower than the body.
“I better hope she’s lightweight.”
He mounts the body on his back and heads for the chasm. The noises in the market only stopped momentarily as he passes the people. The men bowed, the women stooped and the playing children stood. He is the Sorcerer, the protector of the realm; no one dares question his burden or offer help.
There was an inkling in his dragging steps and breathing, as to say, it may be the last.
“I have served the dead for decades; let this journey not be my compensation. My predecessors left when they were ready. I neglect a warning and the Oracle sends me to Dimitri. Who do I pray to?”
Standing on the cliff just below the mark, he wondered before taking a leap — “Is this how I find eternity? I want to come back. I still want to.”
Editor’s Note: Thank Nnubia Ogbuefi for writing this great chapter! The next authors, along with their due dates are:
Chapters 9 and 10 due May 12th and 19th S Lynn Knight
Chapter 11 due May 26th Kevin M. Schenk
Chapter 12 due June 2nd Joshua Valdivia
Chapter 13 due June 9th C. Allen Exline
Chapter 14 due June 16th Si
Chapter 15 due June 23rd Rhiannon D’Averc
