Beyond Death by Dawn Darko

Author:Dawn Darko [Darko, Dawn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Angela

Angela didn’t know what she’d expected, but when they stepped through the door, the scene before them was strangely normal. There was a thin stream trickling over a rocky bed with grass and trees on either side. They obviously weren’t by the Airen anymore—it was suddenly dawn yet before they'd left, it had been the blackest of night.

The only unusual thing about the scene was a large boulder with carved writing on it. Nathark approached it, but Angela cautioned him, “Wait—let me check its magical aura. For all we know it'll explode the moment we get too close.”

Angela was exhausted from the combination of traveling and using her magic—usually to escape mutants—so often. She was glad for Estelle’s compulsory endurance training, though the whole coven had hated it and complained nonstop. When she got back, she'd sing the program’s praises to anyone who would listen.

A quick spell told her there was nothing sinister about the rock; it was simply a rock with writing on it. She and Nathark stepped closer and read:

Here lies the gateway. Be warned: none who are living may pass. Cross at your own peril.

She should have expected such ominous words, considering they were carved in stone on the other side of an enchanted gateway, but they sent a shiver through her nevertheless. “What do you think it means?”

Nathark was still staring at the writing. “I think it's telling us how to get to Seraya and Axen. It’s a gateway. That means there must be some kind of door or opening here. We should search.” Not wanting to focus on the stone’s warning, Angela quickly agreed.

It didn’t take them long to find it: the stone was on hinges, and it pivoted sideways to reveal a bright white screen of light. It seemed too easy, but Angela didn’t care. All she wanted was to find Seraya. She glanced at Nathark to make sure he was with her and stepped forward through the light.

At least, she tried to step through the light. In reality, she stepped right up to it and was thrown back ten feet by an invisible force and landed hard, on the ground. Angela groaned. Nothing seemed to be broken, but she ached all over. “I guess it doesn’t want to let us in.” She'd hoped they could ignore the warning about the living, but she should've known better.

“Well, I’m not letting you die to save Seraya and Axen.” Nathark folded his arms over his chest. “I'll go if you want me to, but—”

“No! No one's dying. We’ll find another way.”

There had to be another way—she just needed to think about it. This was more her area than Nathark’s. She’d spent her life dealing with magic, and this certainly seemed to be magic of some kind. Angela paced in front of the gateway, thinking. It came to her after a few minutes.

“Got it! Spells that require death have loopholes. You have to be dead, but you don’t have to be permanently dead.”

“The problem is, death is usually permanent.

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