Eternity’s Refuge Preview

The morning rays of sun gently trickled in through the windows of Gabrielle’s kitchen as Elior, Eliam, and Neander cleaned up while the others finished eating. 

“You boys really didn’t have to clean,” said Gabrielle, “I’m happy to do it.”

“Nonsense,” said Neander, “We’re happy to help. My sons and I want to be good guests.”

Elior’s stomach squeezed. It was all well and good that Neander had put away Yrahkaz Almasi in exchange for a new persona, but this man still hadn’t earned the right, whatever he called himself, to call him a son in such a familiar way. Genetically, a son is what he was, but forgiveness and comfortability take time. He wouldn’t say anything though. He just kept scrubbing the dishes. He would have found a way to help even if Neander hadn’t suggested it anyway.

“You may want to be good guests, but I want to be a good host. Now sit down. You came into my house blind last night!”

“That may be,” said Neander, “but I’m seeing better than I ever have now.”

Then, another sharp knock sounded on the door.

“Not again,” said Opal. “I just started really enjoying my meal!”

“Not another word,” said Gabrielle. “Grab your plates, and go and hide. All of you! Now!”

They wasted no time scooping up their plates. Elior, Eliam, and Neander shook their hands of as much water as they could and wiped their still damp limbs on themselves as they went and hid in the hallway to listen.

Gabrielle crossed to the door calling, “Coming!”

She unlocked and unlatched the door. On the other side of the entrance stood another woman of similar age to Gabrielle herself, though she was much pinker. Her face was flushed and her hair was powdered in place. Her white hair was pinned in a great big bun on top of her head.

“Ginny! I don’t usually see you outside of our farmer’s market shopping group. What are you doing here?”

Ginny was ringing her hands in the cold, blustery wind. “Oh, Gabby, you won’t believe what happened. May I come inside?”

Behind her back, Gabrielle’s hand clenched and unclenched. Elior thought she must be struggling to answer. Then words broke through. “Of course you can. I already have the kettle on. I’ll pour you some tea.”

Ginny came inside nervously, like a scolded dog. “I have to tell you something, but I’m not even sure what it means or if I should be helping you at all.”

“Well, now you have to say something. You can’t just drop a bomb like that on me and expect me to not have questions. Tell me everything, Ginny, and don’t leave anything out.”

Ginny sat down at the table and took the cup of tea that Gabrielle had handed her. “Ok. I suppose you’re right. Before I say anything, I have to tell you not to. Whatever you’re mixed up with, if you are mixed up with anything that is, I don’t want to know anything. I don’t want to have to lie to anyone.”

Gabrielle sat down and placed a quiet hand on Ginny’s wrist. “You have my word. Now, out with it! What has you so tossed up?”

Ginny took a deep breath, inhaling the vapors from the tea. “Some men, large men, came to the market this morning asking all kinds of questions about you and your family. They asked where your beach house was and everything.”

“What did they look like, Ginny?”

“I didn’t get too good a look at them because I didn’t want to be recognized by them myself, but they had lots of little bits of fire on them. I think they were djinn.”

Gabrielle was quiet for a few minutes then, softly said, “Did you see or hear anything else?”

“I’m afraid not. I got out of there as soon as I could. Was I wrong to?”

Gabrielle wasn’t sure how to answer, so she just said, “Oh would you look at the time! I have an appointment I have to get ready for. I really appreciate you stopping by.”

Ginny stood. “Of course. We look out for each other, don’t we?”

“We sure do,” said Gabrielle. “I’ll see you later, Ginny.”

Ginny walked over to the door and let herself out. 

Until that moment, Elior had not realized that he’d been biting his lip, but as the door swung shut behind Ginny, his mouth filled with the coppery taste of fresh blood. His heart slowed down, and he took a deep breath to relax from the fear he’d just bathed in. Relief, however brief, was his for that moment.

***

When they were all quite sure that Ginny was well away from the house, they all came back out and sat around the kitchen table, but the happy normalcy that had seemed so present with the sun rays streaming in, was gone. The golden tendrils had lost their color and a pallor of grayness had settled over them.

Elior was the first to speak. “We can’t stay here. If djinn are asking questions about us, then we have to go.”

“I agree, but where would we even go from here?” asked Opal. “Now that all six of our nations are united, there isn’t a truly safe place for us anywhere on the planet.”

Nereza leaned forward in her seat. “That’s not entirely accurate. Nox Terra is technically part of the planet.”

“While true,” said Nyx, “we don’t exactly have a reliable way to get there without having to go into Registaan, and that would be a colossally bad idea.”

“Not to mention,” said Opal, “that Michael said we have work to do here.”

Eliam snorted. “I doubt that Michael intended for you all to get arrested.”

“Don’t exclude yourself from the equation,” said Neander. “You and your brother share a face. You’re in just as much danger as Elior is.”

“That’s a cheery thought,” he mumbled.

Elior leaned with his elbows on the table. “Opal is right. Michael told us we have work to do here, so we can’t go back to Nox Terra right now even if we could. Eventually, I’m sure we will, but not just yet. Does anyone have any ideas?”

Elior met the eyes of everyone everyone gathered around the table, but they each turned down to their hands when his gaze met theirs.

Gabrielle stood away from them in the kitchen. “Neander, do they know about the underground?”

Everyone looked at Neander. 

“What is she talking about?” asked Eliam.

Neander’s face was contorted in guilt. “Before Michael stopped me on the road, I was in charge of ferreting out Michael’s followers. I put a lot of them to death. I’m not sure I’d be well received by them if we went to the underground.”

Opal stood and walked over to Neander, sliding an arm around his shoulders. “Michael was able to forgive Elior for directly betraying him and causing his death. If Michael thought you were worth redeeming, then the underground will understand.”

“It might also be our only option,” said Elior. “We’re going to have to go there wether they accept you or not.”

Nereza pinched Elior’s leg under the table and hissed in his ear. “Don’t be so harsh with your dad. He’s literally a new person, and we were just reminded of the part you played in Michael’s death!” 

She turned in her chair and said, “Grandma, I think you should come too. If they’re already asking questions about you, you probably aren’t safe here either.”

“I don’t mind going,” said Gabrielle. “I was actually thinking about going anyway. I’ve been on the outskirts of the underground for several weeks. Unfortunately, I’m not in deep enough with the local group members to know how to get to the Vidanian chapter headquarters.”

Without an answer apparent to any of them, Elior was about to suggest another course of action until they could get in with them, but then something familiar but still shocking happened.

A cold burst of air rushed out from Opal and the light in the house dimmed to nothing. Opal glowed with a holy brilliance. Her eyes closed and then opened, pouring out liquid silver light.

“What’s going on?!” cried Neander, backing away from her.

“Dad,” Elior said, “it’s ok. She’s having a vision.”

Opal’s voice was joined by two others, as before, when she said, “Go. Do not delay. Pack your things and go to the Delta Pier. There will be a man with a red steel ship. Tell him that the way opens to strangers who are friends. He will know what to do. You will make it to the underground followers. Be warned. The way is treacherous, but I, the Great Spirit, Aelon, and all my attributes have made a way for you. Go!”

It was a short message. Opal swayed as her mouth closed over the final word, but Nyx was once again able to catch her.

“I guess that settles it,” he said. “Let’s get our things and get out of here. The underground awaits.”

***

The Great Spirit blessed them all with a new moon and a cloudy night. The six of them, dressed all in black, snuck out of the beach house just past midnight. Cahzpeh, the nearest town, would be asleep. No one would be watching as they traveled up the beach to the delta. 

Wind whipped down the beach from the east. It was hard walking into it, but the wind disguised their footprints in the sand well. Around three in the morning, it started to drizzle.

“How much further is it to the delta?” asked Nereza. “The rain is really cold.”

Elior slipped his arm around her.  “By the time the sun slips over the edge of the horizon, we’ll be at the pier.”

They kept walking in silence. Elior wished they could have brought Gabrielle’s car, but it was better that they didn’t have anything that could be tracked. They’d even left their cell phones back at her house. Nothing would be the same anymore. There were no safe places left, except for the places hidden from Taariq.

Eventually, the sound of running water punctuated the sound of the surf.

Nyx sniffed the air. “The river is close. It shouldn’t be too long now.”

Twenty minutes later, they had crossed the High Plains River and were walking up river towards the Delta Pier. As the sun peaked above the horizon, Elior saw the red steel boat that Opal had described.

“That’s it!” cried Opal. “That’s the boat. Let’s go!”

Opal jogged halfheartedly from lack of sleep. The others hobbled after her.

Leaning against the boat with one foot planted firmly on the pier and one dangling between the boat and the dock, was a man of about forty with a short salt and pepper beard and a black hat that he wore so low that it hooded his eyes.

“Mornin’,” he said. “Awfully early for so many to be up and about. What brings you folk here?”

“We were hoping to travel north a ways,” said Gabrielle. “Any chance you know someone or someway we could do that?”

The man pushed himself up onto the pier and tipped his hat up revealing electric green eyes. “Near as I can tell, all waterways are closed. At least to strangers and people without the proper paperwork. Ya know, new rules from UFSS regulations.”

Opal stepped forward. “That may be sir,  but the way opens to strangers who are friends.”

The man’s scowl turned upside down and his eyes lit up with joy. “So you guys are followers of Michael. Part of our little community that believes he started something real?”

“I’d say so,” said Opal. She pushed her hair back. “We traveled with him. He helped me and my two friends there,” she gestured to Nyx and Elior, “drink from Eternity’s Well.”

The man’s eyes widened, and his voice was much louder. “You mean you’re Opal and Elior and Nyx!”

Elior swooped forward and clapped a hand over his mouth. “Quiet! We don’t exactly want to attract attention.”

The man gently pulled Elior’s hand off his mouth. “My apologies. I do understand your concern, but no one will have heard. We chose this pier because it’s basically abandoned.”

Elior looked around. The man was right. The docks, with the exception of the red steel boat’s dock, were in disrepair. The windows of the buildings around the pier were boarded up. This was not a place people were crowding to.

“Sorry. Just being cautious.”

The man raised his hand and shook his head. “There’s no need to apologize. I’m Marvin, by the way. I can take you to the underground headquarters on the boat. Will the others be coming with you as well?” He gestured to Nereza, Neander, and Gabrielle.

Opal said, “Yes. They’ve joined us and our mission.”

“And now your mission is going to help the underground! Leonis will be so excited to meet you.”

“Leonis?” asked Nyx.

“He’s the leader of the underground.”

“In Vidania?” asked Neander.

“No, of the whole thing, but he is based in Vidania right now. Come on. There’s not time to waste. Let’s get your things loaded onto the boat.”

“I do have just one more question,” said Eliam. “Won’t we be easily spotted in a red boat?”

Marvin tipped his hat. “Don’t you worry, sir. We have a couple defected magitechnicians who joined our number. They created this paint that cloaks the boat at the flip of a switch. It’s its own built in glamour spell. I can make the boat look however I like to protect us from prying eyes.”

Nereza’s eyes grew wide and she clapped her hands together. “I’d very much like to look at how the system works!”

Marvin chuckled. “You go right ahead, but let’s be on our way. The fog clears when the sun hits it all at a certain angle and the pier can be seen for miles. It’ll be best to be sailing up river before that happens.”

The boat driver made good sense. They each brought their things on board and stowed them below deck. Once they were all comfortably aboard, Marvin turned the ignition and the engine hummed to life. It was quiet enough that if you were more than a couple feet from the boat, the engine would be inaudible. Nereza was sure it was more work from the magitechnicians who worked for the underground.

As the boat began to move, the red sides glimmered and shifted. Once they had pulled away from the pier, the boat was completely invisible from the outside, and as long as everyone stayed below deck or inside the navigation cabin, they were hidden from view.

With the exception of Nereza who was utterly fascinated with the ship, everyone was tired from their walk and settled into cots below deck to get some much needed rest.