Eternal Darkness (The Cimmerian Cycle #1)

Chapter 32

It was tough work climbing over the boulders. Kiayani had to use the same technique as on the first boulder, find a foothold and slither up. Koran was light on his feet and was able to pull her up when the rocks were too large for her to scramble up. With all the sliding and slithering going on, Kiayani was very glad that she was wearing trousers and not a skirt.

It took them more than an hour to get to the top of the cliff. And they all panted with exhaustion and spread themselves out on the ground. Kiayani had a mean stitch in her side that wouldn’t go away and her head was spinning. Once she had regained full vision, Kiayani looked around.

One of the first things she noticed was that she could see the entire mountain range from where she was. It was bathed in the bright moonlight. The peak looked as though the point of the mountain had been chopped off, so they sat on a flat surface. At the centre was a raised platform. The steps carved into the stone that lead up to the platform were made of the same glowing stone Kiayani had seen at the temple. A pedestal sat in the centre of the platform. It was elegantly designed out of stone and held what Kiayani guessed to be an offering dish.

Koran stood after a few minutes, “Here we are at last.”

Everyone else stood up to stand by him, abandoning their heavy packs on the ground.

“Does anyone want to say anything?” he asked looking at all of their faces.

Kiayani stood forward before anyone else could move, “I want to thank each of you for believing me and letting me come with you. I think that we’ve had some great times together and whatever happens after this I’m sure we’ll all still be friends, and I’m sorry if we came all this way for nothing to happen.”

The other nodded and then Leo spoke up next, “I may have had the worst of luck but I feel that what we are doing is the right thing and that- and that we shall succeed.”

Leo got several smiles from the group.

“We have come this far,” Mik said, his eyes reflecting the moonlight, “I don’t see any reason why we should fail. I feel the same thing as Leo. It may be victory or it may just be hunger.”

Everyone laughed and Leo smile appreciatively. The twins shook their heads, they had nothing to say.

Koran then took a step towards the pedestal, “I want you to know that it has been nice knowing you all,” he scanned their faces carefully, “I am glad that we have been able to spend this time together. It may have been almost a year since we first met Kiayani, but right now it feels no more than a second. Before any of you suggest the options, I want to let you know that I’ve made my mind. I will not let anything harm any of you and therefore I will be the one to travel to the next realm and speak with the ancestors.”

The all stared at him, mouths hanging open. Nobody made a move to stop him. Everybody except one.

“No Koran,” Mik said drawing all attention to him, “Everyone needs you; it’s not your time. I’m going.”

The boys and Kiayani stared at Mik. He was so definite that nobody moved to challenge him. Koran was the first to react, stepping forward to hug Mik, “Do what you have to do.”

The others bowed their heads and Kiayani was about to look away, she didn’t think she could bare losing Mik when he stepped forward to place his hands on her shoulders. She stared into his eyes feeling the very familiar tugging sensation that pulled at her heart. Before she could say anything to convince him to stay and to not leave her, he leant forward and placed his lips on hers. To Kiayani it was the greatest feeling in the world yet she remained frozen as he pulled away. Without another word he walked himself up the stairs, Kiayani watching with dazed eyes, her fingers on her lips where he had kissed her. She saw him whisper a word and then his body crumpled to the ground. Without thinking her legs carried her to his body and she wrapped her arms around him. He was gone, he was really gone. All of a sudden she knew how the girl from the story had felt when her lover died. Her heart was being pulled in so many directions.

She was confused, and most of all upset. Why did Mik have to kiss her? Why now? With gut wrenching pangs she remembered how he had looked at her and how he had said her name, the way his lips formed the words. She felt so stupid for not seeing it before. She was so absorbed with Koran that she didn’t bother to think about Mik. Tears poured down her face and dripped miserably from her nose. Her chin quivered as she spoke one word, “Mik.”

She looked up, expecting to see him appearing in the clouds. She felt that she had finally had something of her own. She had had Mik. Now he was dead and there was nothing left for her. She was ready to go with him.

Rather than seeing Mik a woman appeared, just like the story said, made of spirit. Even though Kiayani hadn’t seen her for a very long time she remembered who she was. She had Kiayani’s black hair and her wide eyes.

“Mother,” she whispered.

The figure smiled and glided close towards the girl.

“He is not dead daughter, see his chest rise and fall, hear the steady beating of his heart.” The words sounded ghostly and distant.

Kiayani looked up at the woman with clear disbelief in her eyes, he was dead to her otherwise he would jump back up.

“Kiayani you have done well to make it this far. I’m proud of my little girl,” the ghost of Kiayani’s mother moved closer.

“He is dead,” Kiayani said clutching his body tighter, “He gave his life to bring back the sun.”

The ghost chuckled with eerie notes and placed her hands of light on her daughter’s cheeks, “Listen to me daughter. You called him but he did not come. If he was dead you would be in his arms right now. The dead cannot refuse a calling where the barrier is weak. His spirit is in another place however, counselling with the ancestors. When it returns he may die, souls are not meant to come back from their journey into the next world. There is something you must do to keep him alive.”

“Anything,” Kiayani whispered to her mother, “I’ll do anything.”

She removed her hands from Kiayani’s face and smiled, “Part of his soul is in you,” she placed a hand on Kiayani’s heart, “As soon as his eyelids flutter open kiss him and give him some of his soul back.”

“How do I do that?” Kiayani asked, fear in her voice.

How could she hold a part of his soul? They had only known each other for a few short weeks. Surely the other boys would be able to help him better than she could. What if she failed?

“You will figure it out,” her mother kissed her cheek softly and faded away before her eyes.

“Mother!” Kiayani said trying to grab at her, “mother!”

A sob racked her throat but she held herself from crying, she needed to keep Mik alive, that was the least she could do. She laid him across her lap awkwardly and cradled his head with her arms. None of the boys approached her and she was sure that they hadn’t seen her mother.

As she stared into Mik’s closed eyes she could feel his heart beats underneath her fingertips that rested on his chest. If Mik wasn’t dying she would have been glad to have seen her mother one last time. They had been parted so cruelly and quickly.

She held her breath, she wasn’t ready to give up yet. Knowing that she had the power to save Mik did little to stop her heart pounding in her ears.

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