Silver Hooves in the Darkness

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Paola Equina found herself in the center of a large hemispherical room. Her ears perked for any danger; her arm throbbed and reminded her of her burn.

The chamber possessed radiant walls. Banks of humming, crystalline slabs worthy of any found in Dome Scienza, lined the curving structure like tile. Interspersed between them were flat, rectangular mirrors, their purpose unknown.

She walked around the circumference of the chamber, her reflection appearing in one mirror only after disappearing from another. "For Alessandro and Gemma, for all the children who have been sacrificed and for Ercole who helped us, where are you!" Paola demanded.

The mirrors shimmered. One by one the faces of different humans of both sexes and of all skin types and features stared back at her. They wore the same white clothing common to the Knowledge Keepers of Dome Scienza. With one breath, they began to speak, hurling accusations at her for which she had no defense because she did not understand the charges. 

"Your actions have hurt us!"

"You have never understood us!"

"We should have destroyed you many cycles ago!"

"Paolina! What ill have you brought upon us now!" This last voice matched the one in her head who had named her a Destroyer. She looked at his mirror.

The other reflections kept repeating their hostile words in an endless loop. The man who had called her by a name similar to her own bared his teeth, rage twisting his features. The Authority was waiting for her reply.

His long ice blue eyes blazed coldly above a thin straight nose and narrow lips. His black hair was sculpted close to his pale head, which only emphasized his high brow and the pronounced cheekbones of his oblong face. That he looked no older than Alessandro was unexpected, for his voice had the harsh ring of age.

"The Bound Child has been released. Sacrifice is at an end," Paola decreed.

The Authority laughed. The sound echoed, which made the tablets blink furiously. "The one who released her will suffer, for we must now call upon several children to stabilize the damage the healer has wrought. For us to survive there must always be Sacrifice. That was the agreement." He made his claim with such intensity that the other faces in their respective mirrors vanished. "Dome Royale will learn of my new demand."

But one mirror still reflected back her image. The equina's gem began to shift color pulsing through the spectrum from red to violet and back again as if trying to convey a message. Alessandro had said that she was the key, but where was the lock?

The Authority laughed again. His image began to flicker from one empty mirror to another with dizzying speed, but so did hers. Beams of light shot from tablet to tablet creating a web of burning light that slowly descended toward her. Paola flattened herself against the metal floor.

"Burn like the witch you always were, Paolina!" the Authority shrieked in triumph.

A shadowy face unexpectedly replaced her own in the darting mirror image. She had but one chance, but time did not favor her. She tracked its movement and found the pattern. She paced her breath to the changes and counted down. And on the count of one, she moved her arms. The fingers of her right hand caressed her gem, and with those of her left, she reached up and touched the mirror that reflected the shadow figure.

It seemed as if time froze. A woman's voice stated calmly, "Execute protocol." The destructive web winked out of existence with a flash. The tablets resumed their normal blinking.

The Authority screamed, "No! Stop!" Two faces now glared at each other across the space.

"Paolina," he said in a choked voice to the woman who had finally appeared from the shadows of the mirror. "Don't do this."

Her umber brown eyes had a slight upward tilt. Her thick braid of mahogany hair threaded with ribbons of gold complemented her light olive skin. The sadness in her expression muted the beauty of her heart-shaped face. "I am sorry, Gerardo," she said and meant the apology. But her determined voice held no mercy. "Finish," she murmured without reluctance.

"No!" The eyes of the man she had called Gerardo widened with terror. His mouth opened in a silent scream as his image shattered like broken glass.

His mirror now reflected back only the woman. Had she just allowed one evil human to usurp another! Had it all been for nothing!

Before the equina could speak, all the mirrors dulled to a non-reflective black. Paola Equina rose and stood alone in the Dome of the Authority.

Her arm no longer hurt. She placed her hand over her gem, which once again pulsed a normal soft green and warmed her flesh. "Paolina," she said to no one. "Who are you?"

The lights on the tablets twinkled more vigorously. The space before her began to shimmer. A twisting column of light condensed into solidity. To the equina's amazement, she looked directly at the woman who had vanquished the Authority.

"Paola Equina, you have risked much. Do you wish to risk more?" she asked.

"I wish to know why," the equina replied to the woman who was no taller than she.

"And in the knowing, you will change forever," Paolina stated.

"I am already changed. I have taken Cappello to Dome Pasture, a place Cenere has denied me. Ercole has died. And Alessandro has offered himself to end Sacrifice. And worst of all, I do not know if I have helped to destroy the domes or if I have saved them by allowing you to murder the Authority."

"Contained," she answered. "Not murdered." The woman turned away from her. "To know the answers to your questions, you must come with me," she said.

Paola Equina, angry and uncertain of the woman's intentions, but cursed with the curiosity that had made her unique, nodded in agreement.

The walls of the chamber opened to reveal another hemispherical hall, which was blinding white.

She and the woman crossed into the new room, which swiftly sealed itself. Surrounded by nothing, Paola said once more, "Who are you!"

The woman smiled.