CHAPTER FOUR: OUR DIVINE MISSION
I HAVE TO help Galinicus be acquitted. After all, Ive come to Thorüsa for his sake, and cant fail him!
Salekt tilts his leech head toward me. What did he hope to achieve by sending you here? Also, if Galinicus thinks this is so important, why didnt he put himself into such deep sleep and enter Thorüsa?
Hes too old. Galinicus is seventy, and he knew that if he drank the sleeping draught, it would kill him. He sent me because Im young and healthy, and he wants to discover if living people can pass through the doorway into the afterlife. Our church claims they cant, and that Thorüsa is only meant for temporary punishment of celestials who dont obey our god completely. However, if thats true, why are cèli here searching for fugitive spirits? Secondly: can souls repent of their wrongdoings after death? Again, our clergy say that they cannot. What would be the point of repenting while youre still alive, our priests have asked, if all can be forgiven in the next world as well as this one? That would be a mockery of our gods justice, and an insult to his laws. Still, Galinicus and I believe it can be done! Thirdly, and most importantly: can our Great Foe and the Abyss be defeated via rescuing those who are to be damned?
Salekt sighs wearily. What has our faith always taught? Both Elysium and the Abyss are invincible.
Invincible to immortal souls. However, our god could certainly vanquish the latter if he wanted to.
Then why doesnt he? Salekts question hangs in the air like a thick fog, and neither of us can answer. Regardless, I know firsthand that our god and the Great Foe are locked in stalemate. Neither side has an advantage, but if we can pluck condemned souls from the fiends grasp and guide them to repentance
Perhaps this stalemate will break in favor of our god. A sense of urgency suffuses my spirit, but then I hesitate. Wait a moment. Even if we accomplish this, what about Galinicus? He could be executed!
True. However, if we succeed in our divine mission, the ecclesiastical court will have no choice but to free him. Do you remember how shades in Thorüsa can communicate with those who are still alive? I nod. If we can help to save even one lost soul, and have him or her speak to the courts judges along with us, the judges will know that Galinicus theories are true. They will acquit him, and he wont face the stake.
I hope youre right. However, even if we are victorious, what if the judges dont believe our evidence?
Thats a risk Im willing to take, especially for the souls who are headed for the Abyss if captured here. However, for the sake of argument, lets say were wrong. None of the condemned souls in Thorüsa can be saved, or repent of their sins. Lets also say that the Abyss cannot be defeated, either by those living or dead. We will still be right on one point: the living can enter Thorüsa if theyre put into a deep-enough sleep, under the circumstances which Galinicus has discovered. You are proof of this, so theyll have to concede it. Since Galinicus is correct here, and we go and prove it, we have absolutely nothing to fear.
I embrace his wriggling form, even though my arms can scarcely do so. We cant lose! Another thought comes suddenly to mind: Also, if our priests ever lie, even one word, theyre sent to the Abyss while still alive. Can you imagine? Salekt shudders. They cant say they dont believe us - unless they speak truly.
How? Theyre sensitive to spirits, so they cannot plug their ears and pretend theyre not listening. That would be a lie, and they would be immediately condemned. You are correct, my friend: we cannot lose. He winks. What are we waiting for? Lets get started, and I have a plan in mind. He and I finally leave the shade of the evergreen tree in Galinicus front yard. Im careful to avoid the swarm of glowing leeches beneath me. Salekt, however, travels among them as a false ally. Hopefully, theyll never sniff him out! Ive been searching for my sister, Anya, Salekt tells me. Not long after I died and entered Thorüsa, I heard hundreds upon hundreds of these leeches hissing her name! They do not speak as we do, but since Im in their guise, I can understand them. Apparently, they havent found Anya, either, but I hope to first. Shes already dead and headed for the Abyss, of course, but such is the fate of false priestesses
CHAPTER FIVE: THE GREATEST OF THE FIENDS
I WISH TO know more about Salekts sister, but his anxious expression stops me from investigating further. I follow him as he travels with the other leeches, although I float above the river of their wriggling, writhing bodies. They swarm everywhere, like honeybees inside a hive, although these creatures are after fugitive souls instead of nectar! I try not to be afraid of them, but its absolutely impossible. Where are they all going? I attempt to ask my new friend, but Salekt lifts his head up and jerks it as a signal for me to remain silent. From the front yard of Galinicus country cottage, and my home, we head toward the heart of our city. I wince: If the leeches seek easy prey, then they couldnt pick a better place to find it
Faster and faster they crawl, gaining momentum as they sweep over the dusty streets in a great flood. No one else notices, however, but Salekt and me. After all, we are dead (or, at least I am for all practical purposes), and they are still alive. The fiends of the Abyss are no more visible to them than faeries. I consider this a blessing, because if I had seen them when I was awake, I would have gone mad! Its so strange to me that life is going on as usual - merchants hawking their wares, people talking and laughing, and workhorses whinnying as they pull carts - while unspeakable horrors squirm right at everyones feet. They have no sense of whats going on beneath them, on the other side of Thorüsas mystical doorway!
Once the fiends sniff the intermingled odors of horse manure, sweat, approaching rain, and a hint of a nearby tarts perfume, they stop crawling and realize their journeys over. Although blind, they seem to know our city by heart, as do Salekt and I. The creatures slide over and around each other for a minute, conferring in worm-murmurs, and begin to move again. This time, however, they climb as well, and I float up as high as I possibly can. They swarm over the walls of every available building, upon rooftops and awnings, and in every single crack. In a matter of seconds, there are leech-fiends covering every surface I can see, even those of human bodies! They crawl in peoples mouths and dangle in their living eyes that do not yet see. As if this spectacle were not vile enough, the fiends hiss over and over in a chant of rage.
I almost yelp when a certain leech does a backflip so high that he lands right on my shades shoulder!
Calm down! Salekt squeals. Ill pretend that Im collecting you. Stay with me. He latches onto what would have been the meaty part of my left shoulder had I been awake. Dragging me quickly but gently, my new friend takes me to ground level, and the fiends surrounding us dont seem to mind. They have their own souls to locate. Still, Im quivering uncontrollably. Dont worry. As long as you stay quiet, these brutes wont even notice that your shades not fully here. Do you know why you cant touch your ethereal body?
Startled by this sudden and seemingly-irrelevant question, I shake my head.
Part of you is in the mortal world, and the other part is in Thorüsa. Youre unique, and thats both a blessing and a curse. The fiends cant drag you toward the Abyss, because youre not dead yet. However, if they find you, theyll certainly try. I nod, stunned with worry. As for me? Im counting on the fiends being driven by two things: hunger and obedience. They probably wont eat me as long as theyve been assigned other lost souls to escort to eternal damnation! They take their marching orders from our Foe.
What about the three gigantic leeches, whom I saw devouring other ones as fast as they could?
Salekt shudders. They are the greatest of the fiends, or at least thats what Ive found out in the year that Ive been wandering in Thorüsa. You dont want to get near them, or let them get near you. They feed, and grow stronger, only when an incredibly wicked person is dying. They need such power in order to latch onto that persons soul and pull him or her down to the Abyss. As I recall, I havent seen them since
He shuts his eyes.
since I was at the stake, and flames were licking my clothing. As acrid smoke began to fill my lungs and scorch them, my eyes watered, and I saw the great leeches before me. Their horrid, eyeless faces stared into mine, and I began to wail and cough. However, it turns out that they werent after me, but the Imperatrix who lit my pyre. Unfortunately, it wasnt her time to die, and there they are again!
Without another word, he gently latches on again and pulls me forward. We cant afford to lose the three glowing leviathans, at least if we want to have a chance of reaching the condemned soul before they do
