The Journey Home
Chapter Twenty- One
April woke up with a start.
Disoriented for a moment, she moved on the cot, and rolled to one side. Then everything came back. On the bunk at the opposite end of the trailer, little Rose was sleeping on her stomach, one leg hanging over the edge, the blanket over her head. Sean slept on the bunk above her, burrowed in his bedding like a small bear, hibernating. Moonlight streamed in from the window above him, turning everything a stark black and white.
April lay quiet for a moment, wondering what had woke her up. Her mind leaped to the possibility that they had returned and she sat up awkwardly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
Pulling her denim jacket on, she quietly rose and made her way through the narrow trailer door and stepped out into the cool, night air.
The mountain stillness filled her senses as she gazed around. Above her, the black spiky shapes of evergreens towered overhead. Twenty yards away, she could make out the small tent where Cryssie and Adam were sleeping. April stood very still, scarcely breathing, listening in the darkness and hoping against hope to hear footsteps; the crunch of branches underfoot, something to tell her that those who left them at dusk would return before dawn.
Instead she heard a soft sighing sound, a quiet scraping sound of wood against the earth.
April turned and saw Splinter seated on the ground not far from the tent. His slender hands were folded over the top of his walking stick, and he gazed out into the darkness of the woods.
She walked toward him and he didn't move.
"Splinter?"
April sat down quietly next to him on the ground, watching his long rodent profile, ears perked forward, as he continued to stare into the unseen. She waited for him to speak.
At last her turned to her. His face seemed at first an unmoving mask in the deep shadows. A closer look startled her. She could see something shining in the depths of his eyes. Something raw, like pain.
"April," he said, his whispery voice deepened with emotion.
"Splinter, are you ok?"
He drew in a deep breath, turning again to look into the woods.
"Splinter?"
After a long pause he spoke, his eyes fixed on the deepest shadows before him. "I have always believed April, that death is but a transition. It is an event which marks the passage from one form of existence to the next."
April chewed her lip; unsure what Splinter was telling her. "Yes…?"
"April, when they bring the body to me, I want you to remind me of that."
"What? Splinter, what do you mean-?"
Splinter rose quickly and walked silently off into the trees, leaving April to stare after him, confused and frightened.
The blow sent Michaelangelo nearly to his knees. He gasped at the sharp pain in his shoulder, caught his balance and spun around, his flying 'chuck returning the strike. The man went down howling, clutching his arm, and unlike Mike, didn't get back up.
Focus Michaelangelo!
More men had suddenly appeared from nowhere, running into the large chamber. For the moment at least, he had to force himself to not think about Leonardo and Lia trapped behind the small steel door.
Raphael had already brought down two of the four stragglers when the next wave charged into the chamber from the opposite side. These men were dressed in overalls, rather than the quasi-military attire of the others, and fortunately were armed only with pipe wrenches and two-by-fours.
"Take 'em out boys!" whooped Casey, leaping into their midst.
With one more anxious glance in the direction of the steel door, Michaelangelo charged into the fray.
She sits alone with him in the small, locked room.
She pleads with the gods, begs with the angels, rails against the universe at the injustice. She screams her outrage. She cries to every deva and daemon she has ever known until there is no longer any line between the pain twisting her heart, and the wrench in her gut, and the shaking of her arms. Her physical self becomes her anguished cry and she cries until she is exhausted. She sobs helplessly and holds his still, cold, body in her arms.
Not Leo.
Not him…
Please…
She doesn't know how long she lies there, the same words running through her mind like a mantra, knifing through her heart. Her shuddering breath quiets. She feels her heart beating, throbbing. Her ears pound with her own pulse. The sound fills her ears, until it becomes the sound of wings beating against the air. She feels dizzy; the tiny space begins to spin.
She drifts from consciousness.
She dreams she is flying. She dreams of her wings beating across a grim sky. She is chasing something, just ahead, not seen, but felt, like someone fleeing just ahead of her, like a bright light flying swiftly, just beyond. Blood red wings beat against the half-light between night and day, flying through the Between Times, chasing. She follows on outspread wings, her long neck extended, flying low, skimming over a barren landscape, racing in pursuit.
The world below her is yellow and lifeless. Great mounds of earth, darkly brown, dot the desolate land like freshly dug graves. The yellow earthscape slips away, the dark mounds pass by beneath her. The wings beat rapidly, swiftly pursuing.
A dark crevice in one of the mounds of earth gapes open and she plunges down into it. She flies blind through a black tunnel, twisting, turning, never slackening the pace. At first the sides of the cave are earth-black, then they are shot with glimmers of deep green, where hard crystal formations thrust through the walls. Then, turning another corner, the walls become pure, gleaming emerald. She flies past walls of brilliant carved verdant, leading deep into the earth. She follows, down, down, down.
The tunnel opens up, and she is in a Place. It is a chamber of carved emerald, yet it is also a wood; a richly dark, Oak Forest. Overhead, above the trees, stars glitter.
She stops in midair; the wings beat a backstroke. She hovers, searching, and sees him.
He is kneeling, motionless. His head is down; he seems bound by invisible fetters. He doesn't look up. He doesn't move.
And then she is aware of the Others before her, within the Chamber, within the circle of Oaks. She feels their Presence before her, and she knows they are the Ancient Shining Ones to whom she must petition.
She flutters to the stone floor, lowering her head, bending low, the feathers spread around her like a gown as she falls into a deep curtsey. The red wingtips brush the ground. She waits silently, her eyes downcast, for the Shining Ones to acknowledge her.
There is a movement; she raises her eyes to Them. They are shimmering light, barely visible as forms, translucent shades of forest greens and mountain purple and shadowed blue. Their voices chime softly like water running over stone, like glass bells echoing in a deep cavern. She understands their speech, and they ask her why she has come. She senses they must surely know this, but answers them.
I come for him, O Blessed Ones. I come to plead for him.
The reply whispers as wind through the trees. They want to know why.
Because you …you cannot mean to take him now. Ancient Ones, forgive me, please, don't take him…not him.
They question again. They want to know why she asks for this.
It's not for me. I don't mean for me, but for him. He doesn't deserve to - he doesn't deserve this. He is good, he is -Look at him! He's new. He's brand new; a being the world has never seen-
They have said something else, but now she is looking at him, kneeling so still.
Why doesn't he move?
They tell her he cannot move; he cannot see or hear. He is between worlds. Waiting.
Her ethereal voice breaks like a sob. Does it hurt him?
They tell her gently, reassuringly, there is no pain.
Please let him go!
They say they cannot. An agreement had been reached, a decision already made. So much is out of their hands. Their authority is limited.
Please! She arches her neck, hides her face under a wing, hiding what would be tears if she were in her usual form.
The Ancient Ones speak among themselves. She hears the murmur of water over crystal, of deep sighing breezes moving across the living planet. She cannot understand what they are saying. She is crying.
She stops for a moment and gazes at the floor before her, blinking back invisible tears.
She realizes why she has come.
She looks up.
Take me.
Take me in his place. Let him go. Take me instead. Please. I beg you. I implore you. Please, take me instead. I know, it's not a very good trade, he is good, he is everything good, and I am nothing, but please, please—
She tries to hold her emotions in check, tries to make sense.
You have to let him go back to his family, let him go do whatever it was you intended for him to do. I know his life was no accident. I know you intended him to do something. Let him do it- please-
She breaks down and cannot speak for a moment.
Please…
Her voice is a whisper.
The Shining Ones murmur. They speak of free will and sacrifice. They want her to understand. There are circumstances; exceptions can be made. Under certain conditions they are allowed to accept an offer of a sacrifice.
It will not be what she imagined.
She tries to follow what they say, but she keeps looking at him, and the ache in her heart is deafening.
They ask her if she is willing.
She tells them Yes.
The world spins, the colors and light and sound run together in a pastel pinwheel, until awareness dissolves into emptiness. She feels herself being drawn away.
Wingless now, she free-falls through darkness, spiraling, spinning round and round the void.
There is a light somewhere ahead and she knows she must follow that.
"We have to get these damn doors open!" Michaelangelo kicked the smooth steel door in frustration. "What if there's no air in there?"
"How long have they been in there?" asked Casey behind him. He tipped back his mask to wipe the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. His eyes narrowed as he gazed around at the fifteen disarmed and defeated men they had herded back into a far corner of the Stronghold's front chamber. Some lay on the ground, some cowered against the wall. One or two were helping the wounded. Someone somewhere moaned, and another man called for help. Another coughed and gagged. Casey raised his hockey stick, squinting in the gloom in the direction of the voices. "Stay down, you low life punks, if you know what's good for ya!" he yelled.
"I don't know how long they've been in there. For as long as we were fighting. Twenty minutes? Half hour? Oh, man! I told them to wait in there-" He pounded on the door and it echoed coldly through the of the mountain chamber. "Leo? Lia?" he shouted against the door.
"Leo's gone, Mike," said Raphael. He looked exhausted, bloodied, defeated despite the fact that he alone stood among the fallen.
Michaelangelo looked back over his shoulder at him. He started to open his mouth, then shut it, turning back to the door. "Leo! Lia!" he shouted again.
"Look out." Raphael sprinted toward the door, half-turned, leaped, and landed a loud flying side-kick into the door.
"Ow! Damn! Shit!"
"It's a steel door, bro," said Casey.
"LIA!" bellowed Raphael.
Michaelangelo looked up, exploring the rock wall with a hand. "Maybe we can find some kinda controls for this."
"All the doors are sealed," said Casey. "Puke-Head up there shut everything down. He used something up in that other room up there, but it's closed off now too."
Raphael ran his hands along the edge of the door, searching for some weak spot.
"I wish Don was here," said Mike. "Leo!" he called again.
Raphael paused and stared ahead numbly, hands still against the door. "Mike," he said huskily. "Leo can't hear you."
In the small guard shack, Donatello stared into the monitor, scowling in concentrated effort, the tip of his tongue protruding slightly from his pursed lips, all attention on the next combination of commands he hoped would unlock the protected program. So intent was he on his work he almost didn't hear behind him the click of a .45 caliber shell sliding into the chamber.
Almost.
Donatello rolled to the floor, onto his back, and launched the chair he had just vacated at the doorway with both feet.
The soldier crashed back against the doorframe, the rifle going off through the ceiling as the flying chair struck.
Don leaped onto him, knocking him senseless, and then slid to one side as a second armed soldier appeared in the doorway and raised his rifle. Don caught his legs in a scissor hold and dropped him, ripping the gun from the man's grip. He swung the weapon around and clubbed the soldier unconscious with the butt of his own gun.
Hurriedly dragging the two soldiers into the guard shack, Don laid them by the first two, and tied them as best he could with the rest of the duct tape.
"Hey!" shouted someone from some distance down the meadow. "Everything ok in there?"
"Ah….yeah—it's cool. Just a misfire…." Don shouted over his shoulder. "Getting a mite crowded in here, though," he complained under his breath, stuffing the four men unobtrusively as possible against the inside wall of the shack.
"Ok. You know we're still supposed to stay off the radios, right?" the far-off voice shouted.
"Yeah, that's right," Don answered authoritatively. "You should probably shut down your computer terminal, too."
"Oh—ok. Thanks. All Praise to Skylord."
"Yeah…anytime. Heil Hitler. Whatever…." Don muttered, picking up the overturned chair and returning to the keyboard.
Samuel Levinson stared at the monitor, uncomprehending. He knew there was something very, very wrong, but he couldn't quite identify what it was. He was sweating profusely, and shaking with cold. He felt disconnected from his body.
Since the moment he had bolted himself safely inside the command center he had monitored the events inside the cavern on the screen. He had been able to wrest back control of the Stronghold's security program from whoever had been tampering with it, and by shutting down several systems, had effectively sealed off his terminal from the others, giving himself complete autonomy.
But something was wrong. Something unexplainable had happened. He didn't know what it was, but it had something to do with the picture the central chamber camera was sending him. There was this thing; a dark thing lying awkwardly at the top of the stairway, a bloody mess.
Samuel decided not to look at it. Better to block from his awareness what he could not comprehend, what he refused to comprehend. Another thought, though, did break through his consciousness. While he could not fathom Alexander Skylord's death, one enormous consequence of that leaped into his mind.
Ashmedai is free.
Ashmedai is free in the World to do whatever he wants.
Samuel shook as though he were freezing cold. He tried to focus on what he needed to do. Of utmost importance was that he maintain the lockdown, and keep the enemy trapped within the Stronghold until reinforcements arrived. If he could do nothing else, he had to control the network until the rest of the camp was alerted and could take action.
Samuel stared at the monitor. Something else was wrong. He blinked.
Wait, oh, no.
This can't be. I'm an isolated terminal. The only shared systems remaining are the aqueduct automatic controls and no one could get into this computer through that- that's not possible…No! No! No!
"Yessss!" hissed Donatello between his teeth. "Yes, yes, yes…."
The narrow steel door hissed open from below, air rushing into the vacuum within as it rose.
"It's open!" cried Michaelangelo, pressing around Raphael. The dim light from the outside fell on the two figures within the alcove. Both lay still as death, surrounded by a small, dark, lake of thickening blood. Leonardo lay on his back, arms akimbo, mouth parted, one katana at his side. Lia was curled around and halfway on top of him, as though shielding him, one arm flung protectively across his chest, her face hidden beneath her hair.
Mike knelt beside them, lifting Leonardo's head. "Leo?" he whispered.
There was no response.
"Leo?"
Mike's hand went to his throat, seeking a pulse.
Raphael stood motionless in the doorway, staring at the two silent bodies. He was only barely aware of Casey stepping in closer to stand behind him.
Casey's hand dropped to Raphael's shoulder. "How's it look?" he asked.
Raphael shook his head.
"Mike…" Raph began.
"No!" Michaelangelo's voice shuddered. He dropped his face to Leo's mouth, feeling for breath. "Leo, come on…." He gently shook his brother.
"Mike…"
"No!"
"Mike, he's not gonna wake up…" Raph brought a hand to his eyes. Had someone asked him, he could not have said which was more painful; seeing Leonardo lying cold and dead, or watching Mike's refusal to believe it.
Michaelangelo swallowed hard, looking around the room as though it might hold the answer. He brushed back Lia's hair and absently pulled the slender strap of the blood-soaked green gown back up over her shoulder. She didn't move.
Raphael turned away. "We need to get the hell outta here…" he muttered more to himself since he knew Mike wasn't listening.
Michaelangelo was shaking now, his breath coming in little gulps. "Come on, Leo…please…"
"I -ah- I'll get the thing," offered Casey for lack of anything else to say.
Mike squeezed shut his eyes, biting his lip.
Leonardo's mouth opened a fraction wider. He drew in breath.
"LEO!"
Raphael was on the ground at his side. Leonardo breathed again, choked, and opened his eyes. His arms moved awkwardly as he struggled back to consciousness.
"Leo, easy, don't try to move-" Mike pulled him up to a reclining position and Lia slid limply off of him. Raphael caught her in his arms.
Leonardo gazed around, disoriented, his eyes unfocussed.
"Wha—where-?" he started.
Mike hastily wiped his cheeks. "You're ok, Leo. You're gonna be ok."
Leo nodded, a veil of confusion fogging his awareness. "Yeah, I am…"
Raphael was shaking his head, astonished, rapidly blinking back his own unwanted tears. "You lost so much blood, Leo. We thought…"
"How you feelin'?" asked Casey, still standing in the doorway, one wary eye on the fallen men of the Brotherhood.
"I'm ok…" he rasped weakly.
"Listen guys," said Casey. "I don't mean to rush you, but this door is liable to close again an' we still got a roomful of dissatisfied customers out here."
"Hold it." Leonardo turned to Raphael, propped himself on his elbow, and reached out. "Lia?"
Raphael looked down at her, slumped against his chest, supported in his arms. She didn't move.
"Lia?" Raph echoed.
Lia's head lolled back, lips parted, eyes closed, like lifeless deadweight.
"Lia!"
"What's wrong with her?" asked Casey. "She wasn't hurt, was she?"
"No air," said Mike his eyes wide. "I-I told her to hide in here but I didn't know-"
Painfully Leonardo pulled himself upright. "No, wait…."
Raphael held Lia up and lifted her face, cupping her chin in one hand. He stared, scowling fiercely to hide the fear, and gently shook her shoulders.
"Raph, is she breathing?" Mike blurted.
"I can't tell…no…no. I don't think so…damn."
Casey looked around from one to the other. "Wha- how the hell could that've happened?"
Leonardo made a small, strangled sound in his throat and reached out again but his elbow gave way and he dropped weakly back into Mike's arms.
"Wait," said Raphael, his fingertips resting at Lia's throat. "She's got a pulse…I think." He moved his cheek close to her mouth. "I think she's just – like in a coma or somethin'."
"Ok, look," said Casey. "I suggest we get the hell out of here first. We can't do anything for her here anyway."
"Oh my God..." murmured Michalangelo.
"Oh my God. This is incredible…" Donatello hit the Enter key again and the image on the screen before him changed again. Before him unfolded diagram after diagram of the labyrinthine network of tunnels and chambers within the mountain that was the Brotherhood's Stronghold.
"That main chamber is like the tip of the iceberg...wow." Don's eyes widened. "I found it…I found the back door...I have to-" Don looked up and around. There was no way to tell them, no way with the radios down, that he could contact the others and tell them what he had found. He wasn't even sure where everyone was, only that he had seen them enter the Stronghold, and not come back out.
Don stared at the screen, eyes tracing the topographic forms and complicated interlacings of lines that marked the passageways, as he committed to memory the information.
When he was sure he had the route memorized he shut off the machine, stood, and taking up his bo, set off across the meadow in the direction of the Stronghold.
"Come one, come on," urged Casey as he and Mike helped bring Leonardo to his feet. Raphael lifted Lia, avoiding looking at her, biting back any feeling. She lay still in his arms, the blood-soaked gown trailing to the ground. They moved slowly and unsteadily out of the alcove to the main chamber, Casey and Mike supporting Leonardo under his arms, amid the wounded men of the Brotherhood. Casey hefted a hockey stick, and glared at them menacingly, but none made a move to stop the small group of mutants and humans.
"Bleeding's stopped, Leo," said Mike, as much to reassure himself as Leonardo. "It's not lookin' bad at all. We gotta get you some water quick, though. Raph, is Lia…?"
"No. I don't know. Let's just get the hell outta here."
Leonardo, his chest heaving, only in part from exertion, tried once more. "Let me see her."
"I got her Leo. Don't worry."
"No, she did something…"
"Leo, come on. Let's keep moving," said Mike.
They stopped before the main doors, looming over them, shut fast and barring all hope of escape.
"Whaddaya wanna do?" asked Casey. "You think there's another way out? I don't wanna hang around here hopin' the Boy Wonder finds the right button again."
"Run the perimeter," said Leonardo. "Check the wall all around."
"Right." Casey began exploring the carved rock walls of the main chamber. "Watch them!" Casey warned, pointing at the Brotherhood's men.
"Fer sure," said Mike, still supporting Leonardo.
Raphael, clutching Lia's still body in his arms, circled the chamber in the other direction.
Desperate searching yielded nothing. Every group of steel doors was shut fast, and the rock walls revealed no secrets.
"Damn," said Raphael. Casey approached, raising his arms in an exasperated gesture.
"There's gotta be a way out," said Mike. "We gotta get Leo to Splinter. Maybe he can still help Lia, too-"
Raphael shook his head and looked away quickly.
"Oh, man," Mike was nearly in tears again. "Leo, this is my fault."
"Don't, Mike," said Leonardo, his voice low, eyes closed. "It's not…she did something…"
"Ah hell, Mike, you can't blame yourself," growled Raphael roughly. He held Lia tightly, though he didn't look at her. He was also avoiding eye contact with anyone. Whatever was roiling through him he was determined not to let it show.
"Raph, let me see her," said Leo with effort as he struggled weakly to pull away from Mike.
There was a sudden hiss of a pneumatic door opening and a cheery voice called from one of the side passageways "Hey guys!"
"Don!"
"Come on—over here! This leads to the back door!"
"How'd you get that door open?" gaped Casey.
"The button out here on the other side. Come on!" Donatello's grin faded as he caught sight of Lia. "Oh, no. What happened to her?"
"We don't know," said Casey.
"Is she gonna be ok-?"
"We don't know that, either. Come on. Let's get the hell out of here."
"Leo?" asked Don, his eyes widening as he watched Mike help the injured turtle.
"M'ok," said Leonardo.
"Let's move," said Raphael.
"Holy Moly…" whispered Don. "Ok, let's roll. Casey-" Donatello held what looked like a large square battery with wires and a small remote control. "Can you keep this in your bag?"
"What is it?"
"Little something I picked up on my way here. Remote controlled charge. I figured it might come in handy."
Casey grinned and took it.
"Not a very big firecracker there, Donnie," said Raph.
"Hey, beggars can't be choosers," Don tossed back as he led the way out into the dark escape passage.
The cave-like passage through to the other side of the mountain was dark and unadorned. It looked like it had been recently opened and was composed only of raw earth and rock. They quickly filled Donatello in on the events within the Stronghold and then moved on in silent caution. The familiar cool dankness of the underground followed them through the darkness, strangely comforting now. The damp dirt and gravel crunching beneath their feet was the only sound.
A light appeared at the end of the tunnel, and the light grew as they approached and became the rose-gold glow of dawn. They emerged from the tunnel to a gently sloping grassy bank that fell away to a gleaming alpine lake. The surface lay still without a ripple, reflecting back in a perfect mirror image the surrounding rocky, granite mountains.
"Whoa…" breathed Michaelangelo.
"If I'm not mistaken," said Donatello, pointing. "There's a trail head about two hundred yards off that way. It joins a dirt road that should meet the highway pretty close to where we left the car."
"How'd you find this?" asked Mike. "It wasn't on Lia's map."
"She might not have even known about it. It was in the system. Once I found the right files it was easy. Speaking of Lia…."
"Yeah, Raph, come on," said Mike.
"I don't see why we just don't get goin'." Raphael stood his ground, some fierce stubbornness holding sway.
"Let's check her out before we go on," said Don as reasonably as he could. "We need to know how badly she's hurt"
Raphael exhaled sharply. With obvious reluctance he moved to the shelter of a cedar and gently lowered Lia to the ground. She lay still as death. He stood and crossed his arms as his brothers gathered around.
Michaelangelo lifted her wrist. "Come on…." He felt at her throat for a pulse and then put his ear to her chest, listening. "Ok…so why doesn't she wake up?"
"If she really did go without air for too long she could be in a coma, like Raph said," suggested Don. "Which could be serious, since there's a possibility of permanent brain damage-"
"Jeez, Donnie!" snapped Mike.
"You want me to get some cold water from the lake?" asked Casey helpfully.
Mike sat up, shaking his head.
"No." Leonardo touched her cheek. "Lia," he said so softly that Mike barely heard him. "Don't do this. Please don't do this."
Silence answered him. No one moved.
Overhead, over the morning stillness, a small songbird chirruped her morning song. Another joined in. And another.
Leonardo looked up, Mike's gaze following his. Bright birds, yellow, black and red, fluttered half-concealed overhead, skipping among the needled branches of the cedar. Their voices chorused like tiny bells.
Leonardo watched them. Don't you leave…you promised me you wouldn't leave….
With a sudden tremble of the branches, the birds darted away. Leonardo watched them go and swallowed hard.
Lia made a small sound and drew in a deep breath.
Mike yelped and Don whooped and Raphael spun around.
"Great oogly moogly…." said Casey, and then grinned.
Leonardo took her hand and watched her eyelids flutter open.
"Leo…"she murmured.
He nodded, holding her hand; nothing betraying the emotions that rampaged through him.
Casey Jones stepped back and lifted his rag-tag golf bag off his shoulder. He fished inside the side pocket for a moment and pulled out the small explosive device. Donatello looked at him, questioning, and Casey tossed his head in the direction of the mouth of the cave.
"Good idea," agreed Don.
"They're not gonna follow us," said Mike, watching as Casey and Don headed up the slope to set the charge.
"Better to be sure," said Raph between his teeth.
"He will…" said Lia. "Alex. He won't give up…Alex will follow…"
"No, he won't," said Raphael, his voice very low.
Lia sank back, closing her eyes, plainly exhausted, and squeezed Leonardo's hand with what strength she had.
Mike shot Raphael a significant look.
"Lia, are you ok?" asked Leonardo.
Lia nodded, not opening her eyes. "He always finds me," she whispered.
"Don't worry," said Leo. "He won't follow. We won't let him."
Raphael started to open his mouth and a quick look from Leo stopped him.
"It can wait, Raph," said Mike softly.
"Ok, move it! Move it!" shouted Casey from the cave entrance. He and Donatello came sprinting down the hillside. They leaped over a fallen log and dropped down low behind it. Further downhill, Mike, Leo, and Raph put themselves between Lia and the direction of the blast. She closed her eyes and covered her ears.
The low rumble of the explosive going off deep within the mountainside sent the songbirds flying from the trees, and ducks took off noisily from the surface of the lake. A cloud of dust coughed out of the cave, billowing on the morning air.
The rolling echo sounded off the surrounding mountainsides.
Raph looked up with a half-grin. "That should fix 'em!"
"Oh, yeah," said Don standing and brushing himself off. "That tunnel is sealed off for sure."
"So, is this a wrap?" asked Michaelangelo looking around brightly. "We're all here, we all got out—"
"We still need to get the hell off this mountain and back to the car," said Raphael.
"Yeah," said Casey. "Time to hit the road."
With Raph and Mike's help, Lia stood. She leaned on Raphael's arm for support.
"Come on," said Casey. "I'll carry ya, kid."
Leonardo stood and staggered against Mike. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Little light- headed…"
"Heh, who's gonna carry you, ya big lug?" asked Casey.
"I'm fine," said Leo. "I can walk."
"Yeah, I've heard that before. You know you lost about a gallon of blood back there, Leo," Mike pointed out. "Maybe you should rest a minute. Drink some water."
Leonardo nodded. Casey pulled a slightly squashed but half- full water bottle from his golf bag and handed it to Leo. Leonardo offered it to Lia.
"I wonder," said Don, "if it wouldn't be quicker to let Leo and Lia rest here while we go down and get the car and come back for them. Neither of you two are in very good shape to hike a couple of miles."
"Yeah, and neither of 'em are in very good shape to take on any creeps that might have followed," said Raphael.
"I'm fine," repeated Leonardo. "That's a good idea, Don. I'll stay with Lia."
"An' who's gonna stay with you?" asked Raphael.
"Coming from the other side of this mountain, someone would have to go all the way around, which is like half a day's hike. And the tunnel's sealed off. And besides, with Sky -ah-" Don stopped and nodded his head toward the bank of the lake. "C'mere."
Don, Mike, Raph and Casey moved off to confer as Lia sat gratefully back down on the soft turf beneath the tree.
Once out of earshot, Don asked, "She doesn't know Skylord's dead, does she?" Mike shook his head.
"What, you think she's gonna mind?" Raph asked incredulous.
"No…well, who knows? But I think we can save it for later. Meanwhile-"
"Let's leave 'em here." Michaelangelo was watching Leonardo crouch down next to Lia.
"You think?"
"Yeah," said Mike. "They'll be fine. We kicked those guys' butts. And like you started to say, Don, with Skylord dead, the last thing they're gonna be thinking about is chasing us."
Casey grinned. "They did look sorta ..disheartened, huh?"
Michaelangelo mirrored his grin. "Yeah. Disheartened." He cleared his throat and attempted a serious expression. "I think Leo and Lia will be, you know, just fine here."
Raphael, having missed whatever Mike was trying to convey, rubbed a hand wearily over his face. "Ok, fine, whatever. Let's roll, then."
They sat together beneath the sweeping boughs of the cedar as the sun slowly climbed over the eastern slopes and lit the treetops with a fiery gold that chased back the shadows of the night. Bird songs filled the air. They sat in silence, side by side, shoulders touching, leaning against the tree trunk, gazing at the placid stillness of the lake. For a long while there wasn't any need to talk.
Leonardo spoke first. "He hurt you, didn't he?"
Lia chewed on her lip and narrowed her eyes watching the water. "He was crazy, Leo. One minute it was like he wanted to kill me and the next all he wanted to do was…um…you know, get me pregnant."
"Did he?"
Lia looked at him and then quickly down, the look in his eyes making her sorry she ever brought it up. "I won't know for a while," she said quietly.
"Oh." Leo dropped his gaze, fought to get his emotions and breathing back under control. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment. "I wasn't there. I should have been there."
"You were there, Leo. I felt you there, the whole time. I'm here now because you were there. And because you came for me. He could have killed me this time. But more likely I would have killed myself. You stopped me."
"I had promised you this would never happen-"
"There was nothing you could have-"
Leonardo looked down. "I promised."
"Leo, how could you have known what was inside Jake? How are you going to fight a demon that can occupy another persons' body? We never knew who he was-"
"Demon…?"
"Ashmedai. One of the Fallen Angels. He had taken over Jake's body. And Casey's, too. He can move temporarily from person to person. And if he is granted permission to occupy a person's body, he can stay indefinitely. You couldn't have known that. I didn't. Alex was so full of himself he told me everything."
"A demon," Leo repeated uncertainly.
"Yes. Alex summoned him up from…wherever it is that demons are. I don't believe in Hell, but I don't know where else it could have come from."
"Was it really a demon, though? I thought all of Skylord's so-called magic was illusions and mind control."
"This, I think, was real. I didn't know Alex's magic was that strong, either." Lia closed her eyes. "There is something so much darker about him now. He keeps growing darker, and stronger. It's like, like there's something pushing him, driving him further into….that."
"But Skylord didn't use magic against us this time. I kept expecting it, but he didn't."
"I think that holding Ashmedai under his control took everything he had." Lia paused. "Leo, how do you feel?"
He blinked, not sure if she meant his body or his heart.
"I mean, are you in pain?"
"Not really."
"You wouldn't tell me if you were."
He smiled slightly. "A little stiff."
"Can I…?" Lia leaned back, one hand touching the ridge of his carapace behind his head. Leonardo hesitated, then leaned forward.
The split in his shell, angled down from his shoulder to the center of his back. Nearly an inch wide, it was caked with dried, black blood.
"Well?" asked Leo.
"It looks like it's pretty well closed over. Not bleeding at all anymore…." She touched the cool, hard surface. The mottled, rippled skutes were rutted with scars. Lia cleared her throat, forcing down the tightness that had formed there. "It looks ok, Leo."
He leaned back again against the tree. "I need to ask you something," he said softly.
"Hm?"
He pulled a charred piece of paper from his belt. "April found this in the fireplace at the campground."
"What is it?"
"The map you drew of the Brotherhood's compound. I have to know. Did you throw it in the fire?"
Lia looked puzzled. "No. Why would I do that?"
"I don't know. I was worried that you were having second thoughts. That you didn't trust us. Didn't trust me."
"Leo, I trust you." Lia swallowed. "I've never trusted anyone the way I trust you."
He caught her eyes in his, and held them. Green child's eyes gazed back into his, guileless. He drew in a breath and looked down. He began thoughtfully folding the paper in his hand. He turned it, slowly folding again, and again.
"What are you making?"
He opened up the graceful paper wings. "It's a crane."
"Origami?"
"Mh hm."
"A paper crane…" Lia frowned. "Wasn't there some story about paper cranes and Hiroshima?"
Leonardo nodded, staring at the crane in his hand, furrowed his brow. "I just saw this, just recently, like in a dream…I remember something. Lia, what did you do?"
"What?"
"What did you do, last night, while we were in that little room? What happened?"
Lia shrugged and shook her head. "Nothing. I cried and yelled."
"No, you did something. I know you did. Lia, I was gone. I felt myself leave. And I know you were there, somehow…you spoke with someone…."
Lia looked at him quickly. "They said you couldn't hear."
"Who?"
"It was a dream. I had a dream."
"And I dreamed the same thing."
Lia looked again out over the mirrored surface of the water.
"Lia, look at me. I can't -I'm not hiding anything, I can't hide anything from you anymore. What you see is who I am. Don't hide from me."
She turned to him and fell into his clear crystalline blue eyes.
"You offered them—you offered something to someone, in exchange for me. I know you did that. Lia, what did you give them?"
Lia shook her head. "I don't know. They didn't take what I offered. I don't know."
"You offered yourself."
Lia looked down.
"Why?"
"Because your life is important—because you – because-" Lia bit her lip, tears clouding her vision. "No. Because I wouldn't want to live in a world where you were not, anyway."
Leonardo inhaled sharply. He reached for her, drew her to him. She held him, dropping her face into his shoulder, muffling a little sob in the warmth of his skin.
"Shh, its ok," he said, wrapping his arms around her. He couldn't explain how it could be ok; it didn't matter. She pressed against him, her arms circling his neck and he held her tighter.
"Oh god, Leo…" Lia buried her face in his neck, breaking altogether, clinging to him, her shoulders shaking.
Leonardo squeezed shut his eyes, holding her as fiercely as she held him. He silenced the wild promises, crazy vows, that thrust their way up inside him before he could speak them. But he couldn't silence the thoughts, or feel anything but overwhelmed by his own heart.
"Lia…." His voice was thick in her hair.
Lia made a small sound and he answered with another.
"Hm?"
"I think I've been wrong about you."
"What do you mean?" Lia lifted her face.
The creases in his cheeks deepened. "I mean, all this time I thought you needed my protection. I thought you were so….helpless. I think I underestimated you."
She lowered her eyes.
"I think there might be a lot more to you than you let on. I never asked you about that tea, or whatever it was, that you gave us at the Cathedral."
"That was Belladonna's recipe."
"Ok. But this…"
"Prayers get answered, Leo. That's all."
Leonardo shook his head, still holding her. "Lia, please tell me what you haven't told me."
Lia looked down and started to bite a nail, then waved her hand as though chasing back some unwanted thought. "Ok. It's just that….ok. Leo, you remember I told you about Jimmy, my Mom's boyfriend?"
"You didn't like him."
"He scared me. He used to try to come into my bedroom at night. I used to push my furniture against the door to keep him out. Or jump out the window."
"What was your Mom doing while this was going on?"
"She was usually passed out."
"So you ran away."
Lia nodded. "Yeah. Lots. But one time, something happened to him. Something bad happened to him…."
"Good."
"No. See, I caused it to happen. And um…" Lia's voice dropped to a whisper. "I made a promise to never do that again. It scared me. I mean, I hated him, he was a jerk, and a drug addict, and he really hurt my Mom, but I never meant -I never meant to hurt anyone like that. But I did. So I never did anything like that again."
Leonardo said nothing for a moment. He cleared his throat. "You think what you were able to do- call me back- or whatever you did, was somehow like the same thing as what happened to him?"
"In some ways it felt the same. The same kind of emotional…intensity."
Leo frowned.
"Outrage. Like absolute primal outrage."
Leonardo's eyes widened and then a tiny smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. "Remind me to not to get you mad."
Lia giggled. Leonardo pulled her closer, away from the tree trunk. Holding her, and he gently laid her down on the soft, needle-carpeted earth. Her hair spread like a red-gold fan on the ground. He leaned over her, lowering his body gently down as his mouth found hers.
She held his face, his wide jaw in her hands, then ran her fingertips over his shoulders, over their hardness. She wanted to cry and laugh and drink him in all at once, drown in his scent and forget everything else in the delicious pressure of his weight on top of her, lose herself in him and his immediate, powerful, aliveness.
"You ok?" he whispered.
She nodded.
"You're crying."
"I know." She moved her body against his and felt him shudder. "Maybe you're right, Leo. Maybe there is such a thing as perfect…."
"They'll be back soon, you know," he said.
"Do you care?"
"No."
He brushed away her tears and kissed her again. Warm and deep, where nothing else existed but their shared breath, their mouths together, and the swiftly rising heat of the force that had brought them there.
A sharp breeze kicked up, hissing over the cedar needles, moving the branches with a sudden uneasy jerkiness. Leonardo became aware of something other than Lia when a spiky switch struck his leg. He raised his head and was hit with a handful of pebbles and wind driven dust.
"What the-?" He looked back over his shoulder
A great black cloud was rolling over the top of the mountain on the far side of the lake, darkening the morning, blotting out the sun.
"Leo-?"
"That's not—that's not natural."
Lia raised herself up on her elbows and gasped. In shock both stared as a cold wind hit them in the face, dank and foul smelling, sending leaves and dust flying. A sound rose; the slow, rhythmic throb of great wings, flapping – and a hideous metallic shriek shattered the air.
"NOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo!"
Ashmedai is Free!
And Ashmedai Forbids This!
Come now to Me and Die,
Abomination!
A huge creature, leathery-winged, with the face of a charred hawk's skull, flew toward them from out of the cloud. It reared back above them grunting and snorting, its body bony, black and hard, more skeletal than flesh. The wings beat the wind into a fury, ripping through the tree branches. Its voice howled on the air.
Leonardo leaped to his feet, drew his katana, and moved toward the water's edge. The blinding wind ripped at his bandana, dust pelted his face.
"Leo!" screamed Lia.
"Stay there! Don't worry. I've taken him before."
"Leo!"
Leonardo gazed up at the thirty-foot tall creature looming dizzily before him in the blackened sky.
He is a little bigger this time. But as they say, the bigger they are…