We drifted in Limbo on a veil of surreality.

The clouds in the firmament vanished on a fast-forwarded time reel. It was a most peculiar sight. The sky changed and I could see dawn creeping up over the horizon. A light mist danced around the Plymouth as I cascaded down the gravel road.

As I drifted forward the desert mountains changed to fields of lush green grass. A shimmering light played through my front window. I squinted from the glow. Through the haze trees appeared at the edge of my vision and wildflowers dotted the countryside. My senses were also bombarded by the sweet smell of morning dew.

It would have been a pleasant drive if we weren’t still being hunted by the Falkaru.

Drifting through Limbo did not sway the beast like I had hoped.

I zig-zagged through multiple turns in the road, but the Falkaru kept after us. Its huge size made the ground rumble with each gallop. The monster didn’t seem to handle curves in the road well. It was fast, but mostly when it ran in a straight line. It sprinted like a dinosaur - if I could imagine what a dinosaur running would look like.

Azazel kept circling the beast and looked for soft spots to unload his arrows. I could tell the monster was starting to weaken, so I only needed to keep driving as fast as possible to keep away from it.

“The Falkaru’s getting close again. Careful Hannah!” Said Captain Douglas.

“Ok.”

Captain Douglas was in the back seat looking out the rear window. He seemed anxious as he constantly moved from one side of the bench to the other.

Drifting seemed easy to me now. I propelled us along at a fast clip. We passed over a long wooden bridge. There was a ravine below with yellow flowing water. At first I thought it was a reflection of the sunrise, but realized it was a strange attribute to the landscape. Elements of Limbo didn’t always reflect nature’s reality. An anomaly inside the landscape was always one revolution away.

In a surge the Falkaru caught up to the car and swiped at the back window. The glass screeched from the claw attack, but the Plymouth Satellite was immune to its physical damage.

“It’s right on us again Hannah!” Captain Douglas said.

“I noticed!” I replied.

I was drifting towards the Tree of Life. I didn’t know exactly where I was going, but could feel we were getting closer. I had a good sense of the direction we needed to go. The tree was situated at the epicenter of Limbo, at least according to the Oraculum. I knew that the tree grew throughout heaven and hell. It was like a nervous system in the afterlife; its pulse could be felt throughout Limbo and into the Ethereal Vortex. I had felt the power of the tree ever since I’d arrived in Limbo. I just didn’t know what I was feeling at the time.

When I pushed the car forward towards the tree I felt a sensation akin to a calling. It wasn’t precise, but I homed in on it as best I could. Traveling in Limbo could get confusing as no one path led to any particular destination. When I first arrived in Limbo I had driven around aimlessly because I didn’t know how to drift through the plane. It’s not like driving on a road in normal life.

Wham!

The Falkaru caught the back end of the car again. I had slowed down for a split second to dodge a large pothole in the center of the road. This had given the monster a brief chance to catch up.

“It’s on top of us again Hannah!” yelled Captain Douglas.

“Patrick, giving me constant updates isn’t helping the situation!” I replied.

“Sorry, I’m feeling quite useless back here.”

I turned and looked at him for a second, “you aren’t useless! Don't say that!”

“Thank you Hannah. I’m not used to being a backseat driver.”

I sympathized with Captain Douglas. It must have been tough to be in a dog’s body. He went from leading men into combat to sitting in the back seat of a car during a crisis. I’m sure he would have loved to be able to do something proactive.

“You can let me know how Azazel is doing. I can't see him too well from up here.”

"Okay, will do!" he said.

The road drifted again and we zipped past several houses. The buildings appeared dilapidated and deserted. It was obvious that the houses hadn’t been lived in for a long time.

Trees started lining the roadway and soon we were driving through a sparse forest. I could see birch trees and evergreens, but there were a lot of tall trees that I didn’t recognize. The bark on the trees looked to have different shades of purple or blue.

The narrow road allowed us to pull away from the Falkaru. It had a difficult time negotiating all the trees as it smashed into the limbs that jutted out into the road. Azazel flew high above the tree line doing his best to hurt the monster with his arrows.

“Azazel is running out of arrows. He’s using his last one!” said Captain Douglas.

“Dammit! How are we going to get rid of this monster? It seems capable of following us anywhere in Limbo without much problem.”

I glanced down at the Tome of Uriel for any guidance.

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[Monster]

Name: Falkaru

Total Points: 275

Current Points: 93

Power: 7

Type: Fiend

Location: Limbo

Weakness: Angel Fire, Ethereal Energy

Abilities: Hunter Seeker

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The monster was definitely weakening, but far from dead.

Azazel shot his remaining arrow, flew down, and landed on the roof of the car. He climbed in through the window and plunked down on the seat.

“That beast is a hard one to kill. I’m all out of arrows and my ethereal energy is nearly drained.”

“What are we going to do? How do we get rid of this thing?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but the forest is definitely helping to slow it down,” he replied.

“Yes, we’ve gained several dozen car lengths since entering the forest,” Captain Douglas said.

“If we keep going we can lose it in these woodlands.” I said.

“No, I doubt it.” said Azazel. “This monster was sent to track you down. It is a hunter seeker and won’t stop tracking you unless it is defeated.”

“What does that mean, hunter seeker?” asked Captain Douglas.

“It’s capable of tracking the ethereal energy of one individual. Every being in the Nexus has a unique ethereal signature. Whoever sent the Falkaru after Hannah provided the scent of her energy for it to track. It won't stop coming for her until it is dead!”

“How did they do that? With a piece of her clothing… like some kind of a bloodhound?”

“Usually hunter seekers require a personal artifact from their target to track them.”

I skidded the car around a sharp turn and suddenly saw an opening through the trees. It looked like the forest had a huge clearing up ahead. I couldn’t make out what was coming up, so I just re-accelerated the car down the gravel road.

“The real question is who sent this monster after you?” asked Azazel.

“I have an idea,” I said.

I heard a crashing noise. When I looked into the side mirror I saw that the Falkaru had crashed into the forest. It had wiped out trying to negotiate the same sharp turn. This slowed it down even more and allowed us to pull even farther ahead.

“What do you mean Hannah?”

“When you tried to connect to my mind I felt a presence invade my consciousness. I heard a woman’s voice in my head. There was a palpable hatred and I knew that she wanted me dead. I was attacked by her psychic powers; she was expecting me.”

“The mind connection was interrupted by the Falkaru when it crashed through the ceiling. I guess that was partially a good thing if it saved you from a psychic attack.”

“How long was I… um unconscious?”

“For several minutes. I broke the link with you immediately when the monster arrived, but you stayed in the reverie for quite some time.”

The road opened up as the trees thinned out. The forest looked like it was ending up ahead. It made me nervous wondering what we were going to do.

“Did you get any other clues from your vision?”

“I also saw the Tree of Life. I felt a connection to it unlike anything I’ve ever felt before.”

“As Potentate you’ve always had a sovereign link with the tree. The other versions of you talked about it from time to time, but I never intruded into those thoughts.”

Suddenly I hit the brakes and we skidded to a halt.

Azazel looked at me with a confused expression, “Hannah, why did you stop?”

Both Captain Douglas and I were looking straight out the front window. The acolyte turned to see what we were gawking at.

“Oh!” was all he said.

The road through the forest ended at the edge of a huge chasm. There were the remains of an old metal bridge that spanned part ways across the divide. Most of the bridge had been destroyed long ago and only the stubs of it were left at each end. The chasm was deep and from that vantage point I couldn’t see the bottom. The other side of the expanse had scorched grasslands and rock. This led to a barren rocky ridge that I couldn’t see over.

The distance across the chasm was much greater than any car would be able to jump. There was no way we could expect to get to the other side.

The Falkaru charged down on us, so we had no time to think.

“Go Hannah, "Azazel said. "Jump across the divide.”

“But, but, there’s no way we’ll make it,” I replied.

“Trust me, drive before it’s too late!”

I pressed down hard on the accelerator and headed for the severed bridge. There was no way we’d make it across, but I had to trust that Azazel.

The Falkaru had caught up to us and was now only a few car lengths behind. It roared with ferocity as it smashed its way up to the Plymouth. If I had slowed down in the slightest it would have nabbed us.

“You can do this Potentate,” Azazel said. “Just hit the jump with as much speed as this mechanical contraption can handle.”

Azazel started climbing out the window again.

“Where are you going mate?” asked Captain Douglas.

The acolyte grinned devilishly and said, ”hang on, it’s going to be a rough ride!”

He then exited the car and took to the top. I saw his hands grip the roof near the tops of the windows. His fingers dug into the metal and he stuck his head out past the edge of the front window. It was at that point that I realized he was planning to help fly the car across the chasm using his own wings.

I thought that was crazy! How could he lift the car?

I accelerated the car and asked for as much out of the Plymouth as I could get. The engine noise reverberated in my ears like a mechanical beast. I gripped the steering wheel with nervous energy as I was about to do something crazy again.

Everything around me felt like it was happening in slow motion.

We hit the bridge at max speed and propelled into the air.

To my surprise the car lifted off as we took to the sky. I instantly felt my heart thump in my chest as a feeling of weightlessness overcame me. The wheels revved freely in the open air as they no longer had gravity holding them back. Like a bat out of hell we shot up into the heavens.

Birds shot up all around the car as we disturbed their nesting place at the edge of the chasm.

Captain Douglas floated off the back bench seat as he struggled for equilibrium. My butt rose up from my car seat and I shouted something unintelligible to Azazel. My mouth moved, words came out, but I only heard myself mumbling. It was like hearing my voice through a long tunnel.

The Falkaru leapt after us, uncaring of whether it would live or die. The monster reached out with all its strength, but the car remained out of its reach. It could not fly, so when its momentum was exhausted it fell. It disappeared into the mists below.

I saw Azazel wings shoot out on either side of the car as the vehicle started its inevitable fall. The acolyte began glowing as he used up more of his ethereal energy. The other side of the chasm still seemed incredibly far away. I thought that there'd be no way we’d make it.

Azazel yelled in pain as he struggled to fly with all the weight in tow. It all seemed like too much for him.

I held onto the steering wheel for dear life as I became lighter and lighter. I knew we were falling.

The car dove down as the front grill dipped. The chasm was shrouded in mist. Who knew where it led… possibly back to hell. I could only imagine the fate that awaited us below.

The glow from Azazel was impressive… His angelic powers were on full display as he tried to save us.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough.

At that point I had given into the circumstances. I knew that we weren’t going to make it!

My life flashed before my eyes, like it does when people die. Only this time I saw visions of past lives that I had lived as the Potentate. A young girl weeping inside a medieval church at the sight of a cenotaph. An old lady shivering half naked in an icy forest. A female Norse warrior riding a white horse into combat. I saw many versions of myself and knew them all. The knowledge of the Potentate was still hidden away inside me; even if my token was gone.

Just when I had lost all hope I saw a flash of light and we blinked in and out of existence. Somehow we were teleported out of the chasm

When we blinked back into existence the car landed perpendicularly to the ground. Everything went flying in all directions as the plymouth tumbled end over end. Captain Douglas and I were tossed around like ragdolls. I almost blacked out again, but this time withstood the carnage.

Eventually the car stopped rolling and settled upside down on the burnt grass.

Somehow we had made it across the chasm - but was everyone alive?