When the brightness of the disc’s light finally diminished, Amara couldn’t believe her eyes. They were standing at the bottom of what could only be described as a humongous glass bowl, looking up at blurry images of nighttime landscapes floating past them like leaves atop a gently flowing stream. When she shifted her gaze a bit to the right, a completely different assortment of landscapes appeared, and it happened once again when she turned to take a look behind her. Among the landscapes she saw a few immediately stood out. Mighty snow-capped mountains, dark forests curling around starlit lakes, a quiet river leading into a vast ocean, an ugly stone brick tower looming over a well-lit city.
She seemed to be standing on something akin to perfectly clear glass, somehow looking down at the same night sky she’d just been looking up at. The stars were moving and transforming in unnatural ways, twisting and stretching—churning, even—and Amara instantly felt queasy just by looking.
Disorderly smells arrived and departed at random. Deep, earthy aromas of the forest, wood smoke and burning hair, dead things and blossoming flowers. Pleasurable smells followed closely by intense foulness, then back to pleasure, and on it went. The unrelenting cadence of it felt like an assault on her nose, uncomfortable and disconcerting.
Never before had she experienced such an intense sensory overload. There had been natural patterns in the world she hadn’t been consciously aware of, a continuity of perception that usually fit within familiar bounds, but no clear boundaries seemed to exist for the place she now found herself in.
Whatever this is, it’s not somewhere humans were ever meant to be, she decided. We have to get out of here.
Evander mumbled something on her shoulder. His eyes were half closed, and she felt him lean on her more heavily for support.
She took a hesitant first step, and when nothing happened she took another, helping Evan along. She gained more confidence with every halting step, and continued in what she hoped was a forward direction despite the confusion spawned by the assault on her senses.
At some point the scenery began to change, growing clearer and more consistent. The landscapes became less random, and began to gravitate towards one another, forming a tunnel enclosed around their path. Forests appeared then merged into grasslands, which transformed once again into bone-dry deserts. Day and night flashed through the landscapes, switching every few seconds like clockwork.
Time seemed to be passing, but Amara couldn’t be sure of how much—until the landscapes abruptly stopped transforming. They froze on a singular image of a desert after nightfall, one with majestic sand dunes and black-brown mountains framing the horizon. A disc similar to the one they’d first stepped into gradually materialized ahead of them, and Amara immediately led Evan through it.
The same blinding light passed over her. She instinctively closed her eyes, and when she opened them again they were standing at the top of a stunningly tall sand dune. Grains of orange-yellow sand tumbled down the slope by their feet, carried off by an errant gust of dry wind which brought a freezing chill. It was astonishingly cold, much colder than it’d been in the forest, and something about the air felt thinner. She quickly discovered that it was more difficult to breathe, took more effort to fill her lungs. It wasn’t enough to make her gasp for air, but it was certainly noticeable.
The desolate desert landscape all around them was empty and illuminated by the stars, allowing Amara to see for miles in all directions. In the far distance stood the darkened outline of a massive mountain range, shaped roughly like an upside down slice of watermelon against the backdrop of the night sky. But little else beyond the mountains stood out in the terrain—no signs of life were present in the naked dunes or the shadowy far-off mountains, human or otherwise.
The constellations had changed since she'd last seen them in the forest, the realization of which filled her with dread.
How much time has passed? she wondered, looking over at Evander. Nothing had changed about him or herself, at least as far as she could tell. The tourniquet around his leg looked to still be blocking the flow of blood, for now.
With no other ideas in mind she decided to set off towards the mountains, only to be stopped after just a few paces by a pained groan from Evander.
“Stop,” he grunted. “Stop! I have to lay down…!”
He nearly collapsed on his feet, and Amara had to use all of her strength to prevent him from falling. Straining, she laid Evander down on his back in the sand as carefully as she could.
“What just happened?” he asked, exhausted.
“I’m not sure. We—”
She was interrupted by a tremendous gust of wind and flapping of wings. Something huge landed in the sand behind her, and when she turned around to look her mouth fell open with shock. It was Mattias—she’d recognize him anywhere—but he’d grown unbelievably huge since the last time she’d seen him. He was now at least as tall as a two story house, several times Amara’s size. His steady gaze locked with hers the moment she turned around, but shock held her tongue.
A thin, dark skinned man with a short, curly beard, wearing flowing robes colored in shades of brown dropped off of Mattias’s back. The moment his feet made contact with the ground he rushed towards Evander.
“Where is he injured?” the man asked. His voice was deep and surprisingly calm, almost soothing.
“Um,” was all Amara managed in response.
The man knelt down in the sand beside Evander, examining his wounded leg and arm with the speed and precision of a practiced professional. After only a few moments he turned back to Mattias.
“He needs immediate attention.”
Mattias took a few awkward steps forward—how many times had she seen him walk just like that?—and gently brushed the man aside with a wing. He then clutched Evander in his talons and abruptly took off with tremendous force, sending out a gust of wind and sand which nearly bowled Amara over. She had to take a moment to steady herself and wipe sand out of her eyes, but when she opened them again she spotted Mattias flying high over the dunes, carrying Evander’s limp form in his talons.
“There’s no cause for alarm,” the man said. “Master Sattami is a very learned man. He will take excellent care of him.”
“Who—what—”
“My name is Sunjata. I know of you, Amara, daughter of Demetria. Mattias has kept me abreast of the goings on at Shiloh.”
Goings on? she wondered. What exactly did that mean?
“Where is he taking Evan?”
“To our home, Raven’s Roost. It’s not far as the raven flies, but unfortunately for us our transportation just flew off with your friend. For mere mortals like us it will require a great deal of walking.”
He gestured to the horizon in the same direction Mattias had just flown, setting off down the slope. Amara hurried to catch up, realizing that keeping pace with him wouldn’t be nearly as challenging as it sometimes was with Evander. Sunjata wasn’t much taller than herself.
“You said Master Sattami? Who is that?”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“The…person, who owns Raven’s Roost,” he replied. “He’s a good man. And skilled in many areas. Evander will likely be healed by the time we reach the tower.”
“Okay, that’s definitely a relief,” she said, feeling the tightness in her chest relax just a bit. “How do you know Mattias?”
Sunjata suddenly halted, causing Amara to also halt and scrutinize him. Even in the darkness she could see that his face was gaunt, and that he was at least fifteen years older than her, but was still reasonably good looking. Whatever he was thinking about didn’t show in his expression.
“...He’s a familiar, I suppose. Serving a very specific purpose.”
“Watching over me.”
Her answer clearly impressed him. “...Yes. You catch on quickly.”
They resumed walking, and Amara now felt more confident. Maybe Sunjata and Mattias and whoever else was at Raven’s Roost really were their allies.
“Why is it hard to breathe?” she asked.
“It’s the elevation. We’re several miles above sea level.”
“Huh?”
“...The air is thinner here than it is in Shiloh because we’re much higher up. You’ll breathe normally again once your lungs have adjusted.”
“Oh. Evan and I were walking through some bizarre place before we showed up here.”
“I know, it was my portal you took.”
Amara halted mid-step, staring at him. He turned to her with a perfectly placid expression, which seemed to be his default.
“It’s my power. I’m a Nephilim. Do you know what that is?”
“Child of a Seraphim,” she said with mild amazement.
“That’s right. We’re empowered like the Destined, though there are some important differences.”
He nodded towards the horizon. “Let’s keep going. I’m sure you’ll want to check on Evander, and Master Sattami is eager to meet you.”
She watched him walk away, stunned, before eventually hurrying to catch up again.
If I remember correctly, the Nephilim are supposed to be second in importance only to the Seraphim within the angelic hierarchy, she thought. What in the world have I gotten myself into?
Another thought then occurred to her, and she nearly worded it aloud as another question before thinking better of it.
Something about the name Sattami is really odd, but I can’t put my finger on what. Whoever he is, he’s definitely not one of the Seraphim. I would’ve heard that name at least once in the Seeker’s stories if he were.
----------------------------------------
Sunjata had oversold how long the walk to Raven’s Roost would take. After less than an hour of walking through an ocean of sand dunes, a tall rocky crag appeared on the horizon. The way Sunjata quickened his pace at the sight of it told her they’d finally arrived at their destination. She’d envisioned a tower of some sort because of the name, and felt a bit foolish now that she’d laid eyes on it.
He led her up the side of a fairly steep cliff, following a worn footpath which twisted and curved around rocky outcroppings up towards the summit. Other than the path there were no signs of dwellings—or anything else, really—and Amara was just about to ask him where he was taking her when the path abruptly ended at the base of a sheer stone cliff.
“Welcome to Raven’s Roost,” he said, before placing a hand against the stone. He made a slight push against it, and a sizable portion of the wall suddenly gave way, revealing it to be a wide doorframe cut perfectly out of the rock. There was a descending stairwell visible just past the wall-door, illuminated by a lantern which sat on the floor closeby.
Amara found herself rooted to the spot, speechless. The door had looked like perfectly natural stone before he’d opened it.
Sunjata walked inside and approached the lantern, picking it up before turning back to Amara.
“Come inside quickly, please. Our enemies don’t know about Raven’s Roost, but we need to be very cautious to ensure it stays hidden. Don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe.”
Hesitation stayed her feet. If Sunjata was lying, then walking down those stairs would quite literally be walking into a trap.
“What enemies are you talking about?” she asked nervously.
“The other Seraphim. Come along!”
Something about his answer compelled her forward, if only just. She reluctantly stepped inside, and Sunjata moved to close the wall behind her.
The other Seraphim, she thought. Other. Meaning there’s one or more on his side.
Her intuition screamed at her that he’d been lying about something, but she couldn’t decide on what. He and Mattias obviously knew much more about what was going on than she did, but did that mean she couldn’t trust them? For what reason would they lie?
Maybe it was because of his association with Mattias, but Amara was surprised at just how much she wanted to trust Sunjata. He’d definitely been lying about something, but at the same time she didn’t get the impression that he intended any harm. A lifetime of being bullied had given her a keen sense of danger when it came to people.
He led her down the staircase to a solid-looking wooden door, opening it to reveal a long, carpeted hallway with grey stone walls and a high ceiling. Lanterns dotted the walls all the way down to what looked to be an open area containing a small, oval table, ringed by a half dozen comfortable looking dining chairs.
The air inside was cool and pleasant, and the smell of a sweet, mild incense wafted towards her from the room ahead. She followed Sunjata as he strode down the hallway towards the table.
“Where is Evan?” she asked.
“He’s most likely in one of the guest rooms, which is where we’re currently heading.”
“And where’s this Master Sattami?”
“Around.”
“Around? You said he was eager to meet me.”
“There’s no rush now that you’ve arrived. You’ve had a very hard day. Take some time to check on Evander, and get some rest. Master Sattami will call on you in the morning.”
“Just take me to Evan,” she said, scowling. She suddenly felt like a fly who’d blundered into a spider’s web.
Sunjata nodded, and a few moments later they entered the room containing the table. There was a grandiose metal stove sitting against the far wall, flanked by several ornately decorated wooden cupboards. What might've been a kitchen sink sat on a countertop beside the cupboards, but the spout was shaped in such an odd way—twisting and curving in utterly bizarre directions—that it left Amara feeling confused as to its actual purpose.
He crossed the kitchen towards another open doorway, located not far from the stove. It opened into another long carpeted hallway, but this time a series of wooden doors lined the walls in between the lanterns. At the hallway’s far end sat what looked to be a spiraling stone staircase, leading both up and down.
“Here we are,” Sunjata said, stopping before one of the doors on the hallway’s left side.
“How do you know Evan is in this room?”
“Because the door is ajar.”
Amara took another look at the door, and her cheeks began to tingle with embarrassment once she saw he was correct.
“You can sleep in this room with him if you want, or in any one of these other rooms if you’d prefer some privacy.”
“I’ll take one of the other rooms,” she replied quickly. “Thank you.”
“As you please. I’ll wake you both up for breakfast in the morning.”
Amara frowned at him, and took a step towards the door to push it open. It wasn’t a large room, and she immediately spotted Evander inside. He was sleeping without a blanket on a queen-sized bed, and there was an empty chair positioned next to the bed beside him. White bandages covered the wounds on his arm and leg,
“I seriously doubt he’ll be able to walk in the morning,” she said.
“On the contrary, he’ll be perfectly well by morning at the latest. As I said, Master Sattami is very skilled.”
Her eyes rolled, and she stepped into the room without another word. Sunjata handed her his lantern, and bade her a polite good night as she shut the door behind her.
She approached Evander, leaning down to inspect his bandages. Someone had neatly cut off most of his shorts above the wound on his left leg, but even so she could easily see just how much blood had soaked into the rest of his clothing. The bandages looked clean, and expertly wrapped around his wounds. They showed no signs of blood seeping through them.
Sighing, she sat down in the chair beside him.
“I wish you were awake,” she said. “I’ve got so much I need to talk with you about. But I’m glad they helped you.”
She watched the slow rise and fall of his chest for a little while, filled with mixed emotions. It was frustrating that the only person she knew she could trust was incapacitated, but she also felt very grateful that someone had come to their aid right when they needed it most.
“It feels like we’ve fallen into some sort of trap. But I'm wondering—who does this trap belong to?”
She paused as a realization came to her.
“...And when exactly did we fall into it?”