Ayalet woke to the sound of her alarm going off. Opening her eyes, she found herself in her room at her parents house. She felt really disoriented and found something tickling her slide down her cheek before she rubbed away a tear. She found it difficult to get a good grasp on where she was and who she was for that matter. Laying in bed, she let her mind clear a bit. Yelena, she’s so real, her memories were always so real. How could she function after losing so much, her father, mother and then her sister? Ayalet could barely function after losing her parents.
In the other room, she heard someone making noise as they moved around, Zack. As if thinking his name summoned him, his head popped through her doorway. “You’re awake! About time, it’s just after sunrise. Come on, come on! I want to start hiking to the lake, it’s so much slower than transporting through water. I’m anxious to see how you got through the gateway the last time.”
“As I told you before, I don’t know how I got through it last time.” Rubbing her hands into her eyes, she tried to clear the sleep away. “How long have you been awake?”
“Um, about an hour ago. I’m just so excited to get going.” He walked all the way into her room and jumped onto her bed. He continued to jump on her bed, like a child at christmas time. “Aya!!! Get up!”
Grumbling as she flipped the covers off, she said, “Okay, I’m up.”
She started packing her camping gear into the larger pack that only got used for longer hikes.
“So how long do we wanna roam for? I just need to know what I should pack, and what we should bring for food, clothes and sleeping stuff.” As she asked, she was sorting through some of her clothes, deciding what she did and didn’t want to bring.
“Well we can go for… um… how does three days sound? Once we find a good spot, especially if it’s by water, we can come back home whenever.” She looked over at him as he mentioned the time frame.
He just said home, this place had become a home, not just a house. With more than just her presence here something had changed. Looking around, the house seemed warmer, almost cozier, a spark of light in dark empty rooms. Smiling to herself, she thought this is what it would have been like to have grown up with siblings. She was glad it was like this now. Who knows how long it would last, but at least she had it now.
“Hello... earth to Ayalet... is three days okkaayyy?” Zack waved his hand in front of her face. How long had she been lost in her own thoughts?
“Oh... yeah, three days is perfect. Hey Zack, do you have stuff for the trip? You know, like a change of clothes… toothbrush…. anything.” She kind of hoped he at least had a toothbrush to brush his teeth with. It’d be gross if he ended up telling her his species never brushed their teeth.
“Well I don’t really need clothes to change into. I can literally wash them on my body. I didn’t bring a toothbrush, I’ve been using my finger.” Oh dear god. That’s disgusting. She tried to keep the disgust from her face but she doubted she was successful.
“WHAT?! Zack we could have gotten one for you at the store you know… now I feel like a terrible host. I think I have an extra one under the sink in the bathroom that I bought to keep here just in case I left mine at my aunts.” She got up shaking her head a little in exasperation. “Zack, could you let me know if you need things in the future?”
“What I mean is that what I usually do when I travel to places is just keep clean with water. I’m not generally gone for long. I’ve been having too much fun to leave and get things.” He smiled which made his eyes crinkle. She couldn’t help but laugh at his goofy casualness.
“Okay, well. Now that we’ve gotten that figured out. Let’s move onto food. We can pack some bread, peanut butter and jelly. Maybe some snacks and stuff. You have water covered. I have an old tent that's a bit bigger so we can both sleep in it… You can borrow my smaller pack and some blankets. Unfortunately, I only have one sleeping bag and you should be fine with blankets as long as there isn't a random cold spell…..” Ayalet started muttering to herself as she packed while Zack started inspecting a camp kettle she had attached to the outside of her bag.
~~~~~
Ayalet turned the key in the lock of the front door. She spun around and the feeling of excitement started in her cheeks. She was going to go hiking/camping with someone else for the first time in her life since she was little.
“So which way were you heading when you broke through the barrier?” Zacks words broke through her excitement and brought her back to the present.
Ayalet pointed towards the eastern line of trees. “I was heading down the eastern trail towards the deeper forest. I think I was heading for Mount Shasta. I wanted to explore the river there. It’s roughly 20 miles out, but I wasn’t walking for very long before I think I went through…. I’m not sure…. I was also running at one point…. so we should just start that way and see. Will you know when we get to the edge?” She tried to think back to how she had gotten to the lake but so much had happened that day. It was hard to clearly describe exactly where she had walked.
“Yeah the elements get kind of funky near the barriers. I’ve gone through them enough that I can tell from a distance when we are approaching one.” Oh good, she wasn’t sure she would have been able to get him back to the exact spot she had walked through the barrier. She wasn’t even sure when exactly she had walked through in the first place.
As they started into the woods following the trail a thought crossed Ayalets mind. “Hey Zack, the animals are different in other.. Um… dimensions?”
“Oh yeah. Some are really ancient and powerful. While others are just slightly different versions of creatures from abutting dimensions.” Zack excitedly turned toward her, “Why? Did you see it last time?”
Her eyebrow rose in thought, “Yeah I saw some interesting creatures. There was this weasel that had a strange colored coat I think. Um… some birds I've never seen or heard. There was this deer with orange eyes. It was really weird that wasn't afraid of me. Oh umm there was something else too.” She hesitated for a moment, trying to figure out how best to describe it. Would Zack believe her? Had she really even seen it?
“Well what was it, what did it look like?” he asked, looking almost concerned.
“Okay you have to promise not to think I’m crazy… It was this massive white creature. Its face, neck and body looked like a huge ferret but it had horns like one of those long horned mountain sheep. It had these big kangaroo legs and a big fluffy long tail like a squirrel. The weirdest thing about it was that it seemed really intelligent. I think that, well it seemed as if it could have understood me if I had spoken to it… It was so surreal.” She went to look at Zack to see if he was going to laugh at her, but found that he had stopped a few steps earlier. Instead of a mocking look she found shock and amazement on his face. “Wh.. what? What’s wrong?”
“Ayalet… I… I think you saw a Moon Laurel…” He said almost whispering in disbelief.
“I don’t know what that means… is it bad?” Moon what? What is with all these strange names? It made it really hard for her to remember what everything was.
“Moon Laurels are guardians of dimensional gateways. They are incredibly intelligent and gentle creatures that are able to move barriers if they sense threats. Very rarely do they ever show themselves to anyone. I bet you’re one of few people to EVER see one!” His voice held a note of wonder and awe.
They continued their conversation. Ayalet told him about the mountains. How her dad brought her up here and that they'd spend afternoons naming birds and plants together. Remembering what her father had taught her, Ayalet began pointing out different species of trees and plants as they walked. After about an hour and a half Zack stopped.
“Oh, I think we are just about there… do you feel it pushing at us?”
“I… I don't know.. What do you mean?” She tried to sense what he was talking about but kept getting distracted by the smell in the air, the sounds of the animals and the very bright sun in her face.
“Close your eyes. You know how it feels when you try to push two magnets together? That weird invisible resistance? Well it's like that but not quite as intense, especially from this far from the actual riff.” He walked up behind her and covered her eyes. Now it was Zack that was distracting her.
Closing her eyes she ignored Zack behind her and focused on how her body felt. Instantly she knew what he was talking about. She felt it in her body deep down. It felt like a pressure coming from in front of her. When she leaned forward away from Zack and the feeling strengthened in intensity. Curious, she leaned back and found it lessened ever so slightly. It was so surreal.
“Woah, that’s so freaky!” Her eyes shot open as she spun to face Zack.
“Isn't it awesome?! Well it's only going to get stronger, we better move fast through it.” Zack paused at the question on her face. “You know, get some momentum. Especially you because with me being a water elemental species, I can move through dimensional barriers easier.” His eyes popped as he asked, “Didn't you say you were running when you went through before?”
Ayalet nodded her head in response. The next second he was sprinting past her. Not wanting to lose him, she sprinted after him. Just like before she started feeling as if someone was holding her back. Before either of them knew it they were straining as if plowing through an invisible gale force wind. Suddenly they both fell forward as the pressure drastically reduced against their bodies. Laughing they got up.
“That’s my favorite part. When you break through that is.” Zack laughed as he started looking around. “Wow, I haven’t done that in so long. I’ve been transporting through water to travel most of my life so I forgot how crazy it feels to go through a terrestrial barrier.”
“So it’s really that easy to travel into a different.. Um… dimension? I don’t see how it's all that different. How do you find the barrier again if you get lost or something? How often do people get lost and disappear in these things?!” She was still having a hard time with the idea of being somewhere else entirely like dimensional travel. It was a freaky thought that someone could be in one dimension, get lost in the woods then in not only a new area but another dimension. How do you find your way back from that?
“Well you have to have elemental power or be near someone who does for the barrier to work. Otherwise there would be missing people and pets all over the place. The elemental powers are like a key to the gateways.” He began looking around from the ground to the sides of trees. “AHHAAA found some.”
“Found what, what’s wrong?” She tried to peek around his body to see what he was referring to.
“This.” He was pointing at some of the weird purple moss she had seen the first time she went through on a tree near the ground. “This is a kind of moss you can always find near a barrier. It actually feeds off the energy that bleeds from the barrier. Even in the driest or coldest places where barriers exist you can find this moss.”
“Interesting, I did see that stuff when I first went through. No wonder I didn’t know what it was.” She leaned closer to analyze it better. It was such a pretty color. Very unique.
He stood up and stretched, “Which way did you go to get to the waterfall?”
“Hmmm, let me think.” Where did she go? There was water. “Oh I followed a stream. I think I heard it.. but I followed it until it widened, then I think it veered off somewhere and I just continued straight up a hill.” Meeting Zack that day completely overshadowed any other things she normally would have remembered.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Let’s go find the stream then. I can sense it in this direction.” He plowed a few steps ahead of her. He sure was anxious to reach the stream.
As they headed off toward the stream, Ayalet started looking around. The clouds had that same purple wisp as before… Again she could hear a strange bird call now and again. Walking the stream took longer than she remembered. They were walking slower than she normally would on her own. When they arrived at the bend in the stream. She realized it couldn’t really be called a stream with how much bigger it was. River was more appropriate. Stopping to rehydrate, they started heading up the hill. As she reached the top, images of the last time replayed in her head; things really did get strange here last time.
“Hey Zack? When I got to the top of this hill I found a field of flowers surrounding a stump with a small sapling growing out of it. It was really weird, it made me feel really strange. I… well I had tears running down my cheeks. It was after that the Moon... Lerbal. Laurel… or whatever it’s called came up to me. Oh and then it started raining too.”
She sat there silently, the clearing had brought such feelings to her despite never having been there before. How strange.
Reviewing the events from the other day, a thought crossed her mind. How had he known she was there? Had he been in the lake before she arrived?
“Why were you at the lake the other day?” Ayalet asked Zack.
“I was swimming in the underground waterways when I suddenly felt a breeze, soft and gentle but warm despite the water's temperatures. I think the water held onto your presence when you went swimming; I just got lucky enough to notice it. It was then I simply followed it to you where I jumped into the water to verify if my assumption was true. I was so excited when I found out I was actually face to face with a Seraph!”
He then crawled around her and started massaging her back. “What are you doing?” She could feel his fingers probing around her upper back when she noticed him running his fingers across small lumpy bones around her shoulder blades. “What was that you just rubbed against?” she asked nervously.
“It’s your scars, I was trying to see if I could feel where your wings used to be. What happened to cause you to lose them?”
“What are you talking about? I’ve never had wings, though I have dreamt I had wings but never actually.”
“The scars on your back say otherwise. . . “
How could she have scars on her back? Did she get them from something she didn’t remember? She dreamt of Yelena with wings, maybe she got the scars from her visions like the scars she got on her arms that day. But why would her bones be deformed? She remembered from Yelena’s memories about no wings being a punishment, but what would she have done to deserve punishment?
“There’s so much I don’t understand about myself.” She said as she held her knees close, laying her head on them.
“Maybe a story my grandma used to tell me that has been told through the generations might help.” Zack took a deep breath and cleared his throat before continuing, “There is an old legend about the angels of the pellucid sky; they are said to live for eternity and that they once used to unreservedly flourish in the heavens above. Over their long lives, some began to evolve into a new subspecies of darkness. Just as there were beautifully pure Seraphs, there were dark angels called Mara’s whose existence was filled with hopelessness, anger and pain. Both had wide ranges of powers; energy shields, animal speech, healing, control of the wind and some even death. In time, conflict arose between them and their numbers began to decline. Before either side knew it they were standing on the edge of complete extinction. People say they became just that, while others believe that they still roam among the clouds, hidden from sight. Old stories passed down through generations claim to have seen them in the sky or among us, creating lightning storms in their wake.
The angels used to say that when they left, they would go to a haven where they could live in serenity and peace forever. Free of the circle of time placed upon most creatures. They said there would always be one seraph left to watch over them and protect the Earth from the Mara. There were whispers that the angels even had the capability to glimpse into the future. Something they foretold was that one day, the final descendant of the angels would be responsible for the future of mankind. This solitary judgment would lead to the conclusion of humankind's rein, but with an end would come a new beginning. . . . .”
Ayalet sharply chuckled, “I’m pretty sure that leaves me with more questions than I already had. . .”
“Well, are your parents’ seraphs? My grandma says that for all elemental species, your parents or at least one has to be an elemental to pass down the powers. Although I do think she mentioned something about exceptions.” He asked with genuine curiosity.
A pang in her chest sharpened at the thought of her parents, “I don’t really think so but I honestly have no idea. They’ve been dead for eight years so there’s no way I could really know. I mean, I have an aunt but her and my mom were adopted.” She paused before continuing, “Your grandma seems to know so much. It’d be great to meet her and learn a bit more. Maybe get some of my own questions answered.”
“Yeah, she would be so ecstatic to meet you, I don’t think she’d believe me unless she met you in person.” His eyes were shining with excitement about taking Ayalet to meet her. “Would you want to go right now?!”
“Oh no, not yet; we can go another day. I’d actually like a bit of a breather from this explosion of my life. Actually, I came out to the lake for a camping trip like what we are doing now.”
“I’m starving. Do you want something to munch on?”
“Oh, yeah in the front pocket of the big pack there is some trail mix. Do you want me to come with you to grab some?”
“No, that’s okay, I can go back and get it.” He said as he jumped up, ran and dove into the lake.
As she waited for his return, she started looking around at the area. Last time she was here she didn’t get much of a chance to explore. What’s above the waterfall? Was there a place to walk behind it? Getting up, she walked around the lake to where the water’s edge met the cliff face. From a distance, it seemed as if it was mostly a straight fall down; however, up close she noticed it had a slight angle. The rocks almost created stepping stones as they reached the top of the waterfall. Climbing on top of the one nearest her, she leaned as far against the rock wall as she could in an attempt to see behind the curtain of water.
As the sun came out from behind a cloud, she noticed a tiny trail that a small mammal could follow but not her. So instead she evaluated the rock wall so she could climb it to the top. The rocks were pretty slippery so gripping them would be rather difficult; however, if she was careful maybe she could do it. Taking off her shoes she tested the lowest rock by placing her weight on her foot. Seeming stable enough, she lifted her body onto the rock and reached up to the next one just above. Rock after rock she slowly reached higher. Reaching a pretty stable and sizable rock, she pulled herself up and took a seat facing out over the lake. The view was absolutely amazing, she was up high enough that she could see partially over the treetops where the sun was getting close to the horizon.
As she sat there enjoying the scenery, she noticed something flying off in the distance. Steadily it grew closer and just when she felt she almost could tell what it was it flew just below the treeline. Leaning back and forth, she attempted to get a glimpse again with no luck. Staring where she last saw, she anxiously hoped it would fly back up. Her heart fluttered when she noticed the wind pick up before moving the limb sideways. At this point whatever it was, no longer could be seen so it made no difference.
“That was so cool!” Zack practically yelled at her from the lakes edge.
She had half slipped off the rock and was trying to get a better grip. Her legs were having difficulty finding purchase on the wet rock and her fingers were slowly slipping closer to the edge, “I didn’t realize you were back.” She somehow managed to climb back onto the rock.
“I only just resurfaced a few moments ago, just in time to see you move those limbs; which was so amazing!” Next thing she knew, he dove back under the water and shot out like a rocket right next to her; landing on the rock perfectly. “I haven’t ever seen an air element use their power... Well no one has in thousands of years. Why didn’t you show me before?! You’ve been practicing haven’t you?” She couldn’t help but be glad she had resituated herself on the rock before he practically flew up. No doubt she would have fallen off the rock entirely otherwise.
“The wind moved the limbs not me, and that still freaks me out when you do that. Did you transport through water again?”
“No I just swam, though I did speed up the water behind me so I could swim up the waterfall.” Sitting down next to her he finished, “Don’t change the subject, you used the wind to move the limbs. I felt this surge of power just as it happened; I promise you that wasn’t only the wind.”
Sitting there she tried to grasp the idea that it could even be possible. So much that shouldn’t be real was starting to become a daily occurance of her life. Zack was able to control the water, why shouldn’t she be able to control the air?
She looked up and noticed him staring at her, “Why don’t you try?”
Looking down at her hands, she lifted them up, closed her eyes and squeezed all the muscles in her body. In the effort, a small fart escaped causing Zack to burst out laughing at her. “No, no, that’s not what you do. Or at least, I don’t have to.” He then grabbed her hand and set it down. “You can keep your eyes closed but while they’re closed pay attention to the feel of the breeze against your skin.”
As she closed her eyes, she let her body feel the breeze she listened to him speak, “Think about what you want the air to do, as if it’s an extension of your own self. You’ll feel a lightness of your body and an added awareness beyond what you normally feel.” It felt as if someone was gently caressing her, making her think of her parents; how warm and loved she felt with them.
“Now think about what you want to do.” As he said this she remembered what it felt like when her mom used to play with her hair and how much she’d missed it. Within seconds she felt her hair moving, the wind flowing through it sending jitters up and down her body and a heartwarming feeling filling her heart.
“Come on, you can do better than that! Why don’t you make a miniature hurricane or something cool. . .” His lips pouted a bit before continuing, “Though I’m proud of you for doing something on purpose.”
Next thing she knew what she was doing, she began visualizing him in the water. Calming her frustration, she opened her eyes to find Zack jerked backwards off the rock and into the water. Looking down over the edge she saw ripples on the surface. When he didn’t resurface right away nerves grew in her belly. “Zack? Are you okay?”
Just then his head popped out of the water, “Hey! Why did you do that?!” A small crease formed between his eyebrows that she’d never seen before. From it she could see agitation clear on his face.
Obviously okay, she sat down and let out a sigh of relief; softly giggling the fear out. Barely two seconds later Zack was next to her on the rock again, his face right in front of hers. “Why did you push me?”
“Push? Didn’t you fall?”
Seeing she hadn’t done it on purpose, his face softened, “No, the wind hurled me over the edge. What were you thinking about?”
She closed her eyes again, trying to put into words the emotions and thoughts that she felt. “I was thinking about my mom then an image of you in the water came into my mind. Is that all it takes, a thought for it to work?”
“Not really no, you’re connected to the wind. For me, I wasn’t able to until my 17th birthday. That’s usually the case with most magical beings; though there are a few exceptions. When we reach 17, our body connects to our species element; like a switch being turned on. There are rare cases of children getting their powers earlier though.” Pausing he considered his next thought before opening his mouth to speak, “Have you ever been really good at sports?”
“Yeah, I’ve never joined any but I’m really good in gym class. I can run really fast, jump pretty high.”
“Well, if you think of a bird, they have lighter bones to enable flying. That could be why you have a lighter physique, better to help you fly.” He stood on his tiptoes, pretending to be flying by moving his arms as if they were wings.
Ignoring his teasing, she thought back to her doctor's appointments. “My physicals always said I was too far underweight but because I ate healthy, my parents didn’t worry too much.”
“There you go, now what do you say we try out your power some more. Just none of that pushing me again.” He half glared at her in a teasing way, a mischievous glint to his eye.
“How about not.” Ayalet looked over at Zack, he looked just as confused as she felt.
Before she even had a chance to ask, he responded, “It wasn’t me.”
“No, it was me.” They both turned in the direction of the voice to find a woman standing at the edge of the forest. She had a dark short pixie haircut though her eyes seemed more red than she thought could be real. It took her a moment before she realized she recognized the woman's face from the coffee shop. She looked exactly the same from the coffee shop but the bright red eyes threw her off. “Now, I think we need to talk. Sister to sister, if you know what I mean.”
Ayalet looked into her eyes at that, sister? What did she mean?
Ayalet went to ask her the questions running through her head when the lady spoke up instead, “I am Lilith, my dear Ayalet. And before you ask, yes, Yelena’s sister Lilith.”
Ayalet stood there frozen, how? How could she still be alive? That was over 1000 years ago. The last vision she had of Lilith was of her as a child, kidnapped by the Mara. The face looked similar if she imagined Lilith 20 years older. But if this Lilith was in fact the same person, she would be significantly older than just 20 years. Her mind reeled at the idea of someone living that long. It just wasn’t possible.
Her voice broke through Ayalet’s dizzying thoughts, “I take that if you are standing there frozen, you haven’t had even half of the visions you should to understand the situation.” She leaned her head onto the palm of her hand in thought and consideration. “Well, then let me rush things along.” Suddenly, two beautifully dark red wings and what almost looked like a half-visible third wing stretched out to either side of her as she flew over to Ayalet and touched her cheek.
“Dear dear child, you are so confused and naive; you know nothing. How dull.. I’ll wait to come back. There’s so much you need to learn in order for us to play. And besides, it’s no fun taking my revenge on you when you’re no better than a child. Gods, I hate waiting. Though I’ll have fun with you yet.. as I have so many times before.” With that, Lilith disappeared with a whirl of wind. Her form a distant memory in the sky as the sun faded over the trees.
Her head began to swim with confusion; what did she even mean by all that? Dizziness overwhelmed her. Ayalet felt strange as her heart pounded away in her chest and her body began to feel as if it wasn’t her own. The world around her grew dark as she was pulled into a dream.