Chapter Thirteen: Hate
Rindy paused. Her heart was heavy. She felt someone tapped her lightly on the shoulder and she turned around and met soft blue eyes.
"Are you well?" The dragoon asked.
She nodded. "Did you find the answers you seek for?"
He was grim. "I found out a lot more than I had asked for."
She smiled. "That is good."
"Rindy."
Her green eyes sparkled slightly. "You do not call me Alexia anymore."
"That is merely a name you used. You are Rindy. That I cannot deny."
She nodded sadly. "I would love to be Alexia. But I cannot."
He understood her meaning. "I have learned of all I seek to know. What about you?"
Her green eyes were sad. "I learned as much as you did. Things I knew or thought I knew that turned out to be false. And of things that were always so real but I pretended they were not."
The young dragoon was baffled. "What do you mean?"
"There is a lot of hate, Iker. A lot of sin. A lot of rage."
"What did they tell you, Rindy?"
She shook her head hastily. "We have not a moment to lose. I must try to save them now or lose all three of them."
"Lose them?"
She nodded. "Yes. Raul plans to destroy the Night World. I have failed in my duty. I am a failed experiment so to speak. Raul had discarded his feelings for me and in his heart is blackened with rage and hatred. I must stop him."
"Rindy, I am not sure I thoroughly understand."
"We will speak as we walk." She grabbed his hand and started to walk briskly.
"Wait!" Iker interrupted. "Might I remind you, that we have no way of turning back? We just jumped through a very deep hole, remember?"
Rindy smiled. "There is always a way. There is always a back-door to everything in life. And death."
Iker was not sure what Rindy did exactly but somehow, they winded back on the street of the soulless and the refugees. She then make them took some funny turns around the streets until they were standing infront of a old, abandoned hut with a crooked chimney.
"Rindy, are we going in?"
She nodded. "Yes. This is the door that leads to the other dimension and time. It will bring us back to Night World."
"How can you be sure?"
She smiled lightly. "Because I know everything. The Book-keepers had told me everything. They passed their wisdom,knowledge and lore of ancient years to me."
"You must be divine now." Iker said seriously.
She chuckled. "Yes I am divine."
Then she held out her hand and the dragoon grabbed it. And they entered the door.
Warm sunlight greeted them. And they were relieved to smell the fresh and free air again. But Rindy was quick to settle into serious business.
"We have not the time to idle." She said. "By sunset, this hill will be burning with the fire of rage. Let us hurry!"
"Where are we going, Rindy?"
"To Pandora's Hill."
Iker frowned. "I'd never heard of it. But then again, I'd never had the chance to explore the Night World up till now."
"You will not like it. The hill reeked of violent hate and a thousand year-old sin. It is not a pleasant place."
"Then why are we going there?"
"Because it is where the King and Queen are buried. It is also the place where the three brothers will meet and fight."
Iker nodded and walked silently behind Rindy as she led the way. It was only a couple of minutes later that Iker had to ask another question. It was a question he had been curious about.
"The Book-keepers told me you and Raul were lovers."
Rindy did not answer, so Iker continued.
"They told me both of you were deeply in love. And that is the reason why Raul never hurt the Night World up till now. If that is the case, does that mean he does not love you anymore?"
Such an innocent question, from an innocent creature. But Rindy's heart aches. Even though her mind told her she had no need for sentiments. Her role was simple. She was born to stop Raul and she would do that before she perished.
"Yes. He no longer loves me."
Iker paused, watching her closely from behind. Her strides remained quick and steady.
He asked again. "Do you still love him?"
Silence.
"I am sorry." Iker said finally, breaking the silence. "I spoke too freely."
"It is fine." Rindy whispered. "Love is a hindrance. We both know that. Love is too much to give in this world."
Iker shook his head slowly. "The Night World is not that cruel. It is not that cold. You must have hope."
Rindy smiled. She appreciated the effort Iker was trying to boast her morale. Yet she need no such boasting. She was strong. Stronger than two years ago. She did not feel as much hurt as she would have like to have felt.
"Raul is feeling the same way." She said softly.
Iker stared at her, not understanding.
She continued. "The world has passes us by so swiftly. I wished I did not awake so soon. Yet nothing can deny fate."
Iker decided that the topic had to move on. Talking about Raul would just upset both of them.
"So, what is our plan? How do we stop them?"
Rindy paused. "This time, I planned to give it all I got."
Shane crawled and stumbled. Yet his keen sense of smell did not desert him. He thought he smelt the sense of flowers and trees and grass all frozen in time. All movement around him was at a standstill. He was the only living thing still moving, still crawling, still stumbling. Even the air was halted.
It was then he realized he must have stumbled into the Garden of Eden. This only mean he was near home. Or at least, a broken home. The capital was just north of the Garden of Eden if he remembered correctly. It was kind of odd, Shane thought. How serene and peaceful the Garden was when it once housed a band of wicked and crooked old witches. He sighed and sat down. He laid himself against a hard tree. Although his sight had failed him, his heart would not. His mind clearly remembered the Garden. How it would looked like in spring time. The awesome red and purple flowers that sprung up from under the trees. It would have been a lovely sight.
He rubbed his eyes. They felt numb. Then his nose crinkle a little as he pick up a new scent. He started to become alert. Every hair on his hand started to tingle. He started to crawl and grope his way to this foreign scent.
As he got nearer, the smell got thicker. It was a very familiar smell yet he could not yet remember. He do not know why he felt no threat or fear when approaching this other presence, considering what he had been put through. Yet somehow, his heart urges him on and so his body did.
Finally, he reached the presence. He held out his hand and started to grope around blindly. His palms landed on a bunch of silky threads. His fingers ran through them, feeling their every texture.
He started to shake. With trembling hands, he reached down the touched the rest of the object. His fingers could make out a pointed nose, a slightly opened mouth and cracked lips. His hand move up again to lightly tapped on the eyes. Closed eyes.
Then he wept.
He did not know how long he sat down beside Nicky and cried. Time was lost in the Garden of Eden. He did not care. He did not want to get away. He wanted to stay there for a while. Maybe he cried himself to sleep or maybe he did not get any sleep. He was not sure if his eyes were opened or closed.
"I am not sure of anything anymore." He said softly, lying on the grass beside his friend.
So much death, he thought. And he had contributed to a fair share of that. He wished he would just die and disappear. He hated the immortality. He hated the way he could not hurt himself because he would heal just as quickly.
God, he hated this world.
Then he heard something else that moves in the Garden and he froze. The sound of flapping wings. Great and slow, kind of rhythmic was the sound of it. But Shane did not move.
Let them come, he thought. Let them torture and hurt. He'd welcome the pain.
The sound came closer until it was just flapping above him.
"Take me to death." He whispered.
And great claws pick him up and flew away.
Virginie felt every blood in her turned chilled.
"No, Raul. We are not going there."
"Yes we are."
"But why? I thought you hated that place."
Raul looked at her coldly. "Yes. Hated that place very much. Yet, he calls from the wind. I must go now."
"Who called?"
"My brother."
"You intend to kill him then?"
He nodded. "Yes. He should have died that thousand years ago."
Virginie paused. "I am not sure I understand."
"You will soon enough."
"Why do you not kill me?" she asked suddenly.
He stopped and turned back to look at her. "Do you want me to?"
He said it as if it was the most natural thing to ask.
She shook her head. "No. I was only curious."
"You want to know if I still have feelings for you. That I did not kill you because I cannot bring myself to."
Virginie stared at him. "Do you have feelings for me?"
He was unmoving. "I have no feelings."
"For anyone? Anything?"
"Yes."
"You used to have a lot of feelings, Raul. You used to get angry, laugh and love. You used to become sarcastic, cynical and cruel."
"That was all in the past."
"Why have you suddenly changed into someone I barely knew?"
"When things change, people change. The way a person behave is carved by the way events unfold about him."
"So what changed you so greatly? Even though you always wanted to destroy the Night World, you never thought of leaving Rindy. What happened to you, Raul?" She was ashamed that her voice broke and betrayed her tears.
"Maybe the spell had lifted." He said coldly. "I am no longer under the spell that I'd been binded to for so many years."
"No." Virginie frowned. "I think a new spell is upon you. It had cast over you like shadows over mountains. You have changed to become so much worst off than your brother." she hissed.
Raul suddenly grabbed her throat and squeezed them until she started to choke.
"I only brought you this far with me because of what I had done to Adelia. I am giving you a chance to see the end of the world, before your very own end." he whispered roughly. "I am under no spell, Vampire."
She felt her lungs were about to burst when Raul suddenly released her and she collapsed onto the ground.
She gasped for breath as she looked up at him. Her yellow eyes narrowed.
"I despised you." She whispered.
Raul did not smile. "I will make it such an end that it would be worth your wrath."
Then he picked her up in his arms and started to climb up the hill.
They reached the top of Pandora's Hill and Raul put Virginie down. The girl watched silently as Raul walked slowly towards one great tombstone. On it was scrawled in a small and almost unreadable writing:
Here Lies Pandora and Windalf,
Mighty Rulers of their time,
May they find eternal rest,
In eternal peace.
Raul snickered softly. "Mighty rulers indeed."
Virginie walked towards him and touched his shoulder. "Raul."
"They were not mighty. Maybe father had been. But not her."
Virginie did not speak. Somehow, she could feel Raul trembling softly.
"I hate her." He whispered again. "I hate you." He said to the tomb.
Virginie took a step back. She was suddenly afraid of him. She could sense that Raul was suddenly becoming very turbulent.
"For so many years, you haunted my every steps. Yes. You picked the wrong son. You should have killed me. For I am the One, mother. I am the One that will destroy them and you along with it!"
"Raul.what are you saying?" Virginie asked softly.
He started to chuckle wildly. Then his hands rest upon the tomb and he ignored Virginie or maybe he did not even noticed she was there.
"Maybe I was the One that make you pick the wrong son!" He laughed. "I was the One that toyed with your mind. I make you pick me!"
"Raul, what the hell is going on?" Virginie shouted across to him. The sky above them had turned quite gray. It looked as if a storm was brewing. Yet Raul did not seem to notice anything else around him. It was just the tomb and himself. He was in his own world. A world Virginie was sure she would not wish to enter.
The wind started to howl around them and Virginie thought she could hear a distant flapping of wings. But she could not be certain because the winds were howling so loudly.
Yet Raul stood there, alone and in solitude. His cape flying about him wildly in the wind. He stood there, a dark figure against the rage of the wind. And all the while, Virginie groped low to the grass, in terror.
"He is here, Pandora. Your unnamed child. The One that should have been King. The One that should have been with Rindy. The One you killed." Raul whispered. The wind carried his words until Virginie thought the whole hill was filled with them.
"Your other son will be here soon." Raul chuckled. "Your vampire son. He would have make a fine king, Pandora, if you had given him a chance. Now, you will watched in your grave the errors of your past. And watched as I kill your sons one by one."
The flapping of wings got louder and now Virginie was sure it was not the wind. She looked up and sure enough, she saw a great big bird, strangely like that of an eagle with beautiful blue and purple feathers swooping above them.
In his claws, it held Shane.
Virginie gasped as the claw opened and released Shane.
"Even Elessar is here!" Raul rejoiced. "This is a glorious end."
Virginie rushed to Shane's side. The poor vampire looked so beaten up and wary, Virginie thought he was going to die.
"Shane, are you alright?"
"Virginie? That sounded like you. But you are suppose to be dead."
"It is a long story. I am very frighten now, Shane. Raul planned for something big to happen. Something bad."
"Is Raul here?"
Virginie paused. "He is standing right over there."
"I cannot see." Shane whispered. Then his eyes narrowed. "I will kill that stinking bastard brother of mine!" he started to get up but Virginie quickly held him back.
"Shane, what are you saying? You lost your sight?"
"Raul did it!" He shouted angrily. "I will fell him myself before my life should be ended!"
Virginie paused. "But he didn't. He told me he lost you to Elessar at some point and then he'd never seen you since. I was with him all the way."
"He must have fed you nothing but lies, Virginie. His Elessar dumped me into a dried well and there, he practiced his blackcraft on me and blinded me. I will kill him!" He started to get up again.
Virginie quickly pushed him down. "Listen! You have been mistaken! Raul told me that Elessar is no longer under his command."
"Then whose command could that beast be under?! There are no summoners here except for him!"
"No, Shane. There is one other."
Shane perked up. "Who is that?" He asked Virginie, tightly gripping her shoulder.
He could feel Virginie tensed up. "It is her." The vampire whispered.
Iker watched with a heavy heart at the scene before him. He saw Raul standing before a great tomb, his back facing them. Yet he did not speak as if he knew they had arrived. Then Iker also saw Shane sprawling on the grass with a beautiful girl with yellow eyes beside him. Rindy was infront of him but Iker quickly held her hand and shook his head.
"I will be fine." She said.
Iker did not think so. Especially with the wind blowing so wildly about them.
"You have another brother, Shane." Rindy started.
A second voice spoke, colder and harder. "Do not tell him of the sin committed so long ago. It is a curse."
Iker realized it was Raul that had spoken. His back was still facing them.
Rindy turned towards the man. "Raul. How did we got separated from the camp?"
"I told you to go far away. And you did."
Rindy nodded. "Yes I remember now. It all seem so long ago."
Finally, the man turned around. And Iker could see that his eyes were dark as the devil's own.
"It was fate. Fate that awoken me. Fate that tear us apart and fate again, that brings me to the truth."
"What truth?" The girl asked softly.
"The truth of Pandora's sin. Of my sin. Of everyone that had that cursed blood."
"What did Pandora do to earn such hate from the son she only ever loved and cared for?"
Raul spat. "Do not speak of her love for me. I would much preferred none. Do not speak of the privilege I had. I am ashamed of it." He shook his head slowly. "The moment I learned that she had murdered my brother and discarded another, I was full of shame. Never should the line of Necromancers be born by such a vile creature as she was."
"Pandora may have sinned but she had paid for it. She was murdered ruthlessly during the Revolution. Would you never let your heart rest?"
"Never." Raul replied darkly. "Not when I know she also played a part in your creation, in our pain, Rindy. The Book-keepers and the Elders created you but she is not entirely innocent in this. She make them create you. She planted thoughts in them, even when she was dead."
"No, Raul."
"Yes. Do you know she came in my dream? She said she should have killed me instead. She told me you would destroy me. Is that true, Rindy?"
The girl did not speak.
Raul nodded and chuckled. "Oh yes. I see it now. You are one of them, Rindy. You are created by them and therefore, you are their puppet. I shall send you to see your creators soon enough!"
"Raul stop!" Iker suddenly shouted and stepped in. "You have spoken too vilely for a king. You know Rindy loved you. And you know she meant to help you. Will you not throw away the thought of vengeance and seek peace instead?"
"Foolish dragoons!" Raul bellowed. "They speak like young werewolves just out of infancy. They are mindless! You are taken with her because she put a spell on you!"
All this while, Shane was silent, hearing the comments, the shouts and the angry retorts that were flying about.
"Virginie, I have another brother?"
The vampire girl was quiet. "To tell you the truth, I think we should both stay out of this. We have been kept in the dark far too long."
"But he is my brother. I.why am I the only one that does not know this?"
Virginie softened. "It may be a blessing, Shane. Knowing the truth threw Raul over the edge."
They were again interrupted by a sudden deep trembling of the ground. Everyone stumbled.
Raul smiled. "Yes. At last, he is here."
"No Raul. He will not be coming." Rindy said suddenly.
Raul eyed her darkly. "You cannot stop him."
"I did."
Raul did not speak.
Rindy continued. "He is already dead. But he cannot forget the sin of the past and therefore, he came back. But I send him back already. When I was at the Black Hole with the Book-Keepers, I called for him and send him to rest."
"Lies."
"I am not lying, Raul. Your brother is now resting in peace."
Raul smirked. "If he is, why did Elessar bring Shane here? I did not order him."
Iker took a step forward. "Yes you did not call for Elessar. We did. Or should I say, Rindy did."
The Dark Lord turned to the girl. "You summon him?"
Rindy shook her head. "I am no summoner. I only ask him if he could do the favor."
Shane was alert suddenly. "But.but Elessar brought me to a well. Then Raul blinded me."
Rindy turned to Shane and she was sorry to see him looking so tired and hurt.
"No Shane. Raul did not make you lost your sight. It is the unnamed child that did. And he did it because he thought you were Raul. His mind is bend on killing Raul for he felt that Raul was the one that took away his life and his place."
Raul nodded. "I did."
"You did not, Raul. You have to stop thinking that."
"What do you know of my pain and sorrow, Rindy? Nothing! How could you have send my brother away? Where did you send him? To what doom did you send him to?!"
"Raul, you are acting so crazy!" Iker snapped. "Rindy only meant to save all of you. She had help to save your third brother now and he has now returned to a place of eternal rest."
"Is that your idea of saving us?" Raul snickered. "So how will you save me and Shane? Will you send us to this place of eternal rest as well?"
"Only if you forced me to." Rindy said gravely.
"No." Raul whispered darkly. "I want you to."
Virginie suddenly leaped away from Shane. "Raul! Don't be silly! She is very strong now. I can feel it. She can destroy you!"
"Yes, Virginie." Raul replied softly. "Somehow, I can feel it too. After we got separated, you must have gotten much stronger."
Rindy paused. "Do not force me to do this, Raul."
"No, Rindy. I want you to do this. I want you to destroy me."
"No." Her voice began to tremble.
"If you don't, I will destroy you instead. Then I will end the world as it should have been ended."
Rindy paused. Then she whispered. "You do not have the heart to do it."
Raul narrowed his eyes slightly. "What?"
"I say, you do not have the heart to do that. To kill me or to destroy the world."
He began to laugh, a quiet sort of laugh. "And what makes you think that, Rindy? Have you been hanging around that dragoon for far too long?"
"If you are so ashamed by your past and your lineage, then you are more soft than you give yourself credit for."
Her words angered him and his eyes flared. "If you think I still have any feeling left for a puppet like you, then you are sorely mistaken!"
This make Rindy sucked in her breath. And everyone else that heard was stunned.
There was an awful silence. And the wind continue to howl.
Finally Raul broke it. He said quietly. "I have wasted enough time. You always hinder me, Rindy. Now I will end it."
He closes his eyes suddenly and the ground began to shake wildly. Rindy fall and Iker rushed to grab her. Shane rolled about the grass blindly and Virginie leaped over to steady him.
They were all trying to balance themselves when there was a sudden loud rumbling and then a crashing sound and to their horror, the great tomb behind Raul blew up.
Rindy gasped but to her horror, she saw Raul opened his eyes. And they were not black but a deep crimson red. And he had a slow smile on his face.
"Stop Raul! Stop it!" She screamed. The wind was howling madly around her. And she was light. If Iker had not hold on to her, she might have been blown away.
This is the End.
Rindy frowned. "I will not let you!"
I am a Necromancer. You are powerless before me.
"I will stop you!"
Today will mark the ending of the sin that my people had committed in past and present.
Rindy collapsed onto the grass suddenly, sobbing. "Why.Raul.? Why won't you let me save you?"
I shall end the vengeance of my brothers. With blood and fear, I shall end the whole lineage and the Vicious Cycle.
"Its always about you, Raul. If your brother could put it behind him, why couldn't you? If Shane could forgive, why couldn't you?" Rindy asked, with tears in her green eyes. "You are the only one that goes about this matter seeking revenge. Why does your two brothers listen to me and trust me but you refuses? Why do they love me when I seek only for your love?" She covered her face with her hands and wept.
There was a sudden bright white light. It seemed to emit from Rindy's body. And the light was so bright that everyone had to shade their eyes. The light passed through from Rindy's body and went straight at Raul. It only took a second or maybe less of it, for the light to penetrate him.
Raul looked at Rindy, slightly surprised. Yet there was something proud in his eyes, something approving. His crimson eyes turned dull, until they were black again. Then he fell upon the grass, his cape spread around him and the winds stopped howling.
Rindy rushed to his side and brought his resting head to her lap.
"Raul."
His eyes were closed. "Have I.is this the End?"
Rindy shook her head. "No. You have failed. I knew you couldn't have done it."
He nodded. "Somehow, that sounded like an insult."
"I love you." She whispered and wept again.
"You are strong. I never realize you were and I had spend my every waking hours with you." he chuckled softly. "Isn't that odd?"
She nodded. "Yes, how odd."
He nodded. "I feel sleepy. I could take a long nap."
Rindy nodded. "Yes. A long nap. Something I feel we all need."
Raul smiled and still, his eyes were closed. Rindy knew he did not have the strength to open it.
"Actually, come to think of it, Necromancers aren't that big a deal." Raul laughed. "They aren't even that strong."
"No. But I think they have the biggest hearts."
He did not reply. Rindy watched in silence as the man before her finally drew his last breath.
