DUSKLIGHT ODYSSEY

Chapter 13

For the first time in what felt like his entire life, Ion awoke from his sleep. His eyes opened slowly; his mind refreshed in the most peculiar way. It took a moment for his limbs to obey his command. But the heaviness of his eyes was no longer there, his body's constant protest was silent.

As his eyes opened, he saw the sky. Ion was confused. Was this dream, or reality? He sat up from the hard wooden pew whereon he laid. None of it made sense. He looked up. Where there should have been a beautiful, vaulted ceiling, there was a massive hole that windowed the clear blue sky, tinged with the amber tones of sunset. Ion looked around him. The sheen of the wooden floors was gone; only splintered, dull-grey planks remained. The pews, too, had lost their luster. The brick walls looked older, and everything looked dustier. In the center of the room was a heap of rubble, likely where the bricks from the hole in the roof had crumbled to.

Naim was gone, and so was the egg.

Have I slept a hundred years? It certainly seemed so.

Entirely disoriented, Ion heaved himself from off the pew. He had the sudden urge to stretch, which he assented to. The grand, ornamented building now matched the rest of the world: cold, lifeless, old, and grey; a shadow of what Ion had seen just moments prior, or so it felt. He approached the altar at the chapel's head. The book was still open to the page he had read from, but its pages were yellowed and frail.

"Naim." Ion's voice was weak. He cleared his throat. "Naim?" Where had she gone? The thought that she might have left him, had gone out to tread the path alone, put a sinkhole into his stomach. Or have I really slept a hundred years? How could it be? The church was so clean, so vibrant and well-kept. But now... it was just a husk.

"Naim?!" he called again. Ion scoured his surroundings. His eyes fell on a wooden door off to the right. He opened it, and peered inside. A lone candle lit the room. Wax dripped from the sconce; the candle was very nearly spent. On the floor laid his iron cross, next to a hole that led to some dark passage. He left the cross alone and crouched beside the opening, just large enough for him to crawl through. Ion dropped to his stomach and squirmed past the brick wall.

Once on his feet again, he saw how dark the hall afront him was. Ion reached into his pocket for the lighter, but found it missing. Naim took it, he thought. Why?

Ion thought he could hear something echoing from down the passage. He stepped forward, but his foot found nothing. He stumbled backward and caught himself. It was a staircase. As Ion proceeded down the stairs, it quickly became pitch-dark. I can't go on like this, he thought.

Ion turned around and went back up the stairs, through the passage, and into the small room. The candle's sconce was nailed into the wall. Ion took his cross in-hand and pried it loose.

By the faint light of the candle, Ion took to the stairs once more. Its glow was just enough to see his footing. As he went down, the echoing sound became clearer: ragged breathing.

"Naim?" Ion tentatively called again.

A raw moan was his only reply.

Ion swallowed the lump in his throat and quickened his descent. A pungent, earthy smell filled his senses. There was a splash as his boots hit water. The orange light danced across the rippling pool.

The sound of ragged breathing was clearer than ever. Ion stepped forward. The hunched form of a small girl shivering on her knees in the cold water came into view. Her back was turned to him.

"Naim!" Ion said.

"Ion..." Her voice was pained and hoarse.

Ion didn't know what to do, think, nor say. He circled the girl and knelt in front of her. Icy water filled his boots and wet his trousers. "What happened?" he whispered. Naim was soaked, head to toe. Her face was somber, her eyes puffy and red, and a large bruise adorned her head. By the soft, flickering light, Ion saw her raise her shivering arms from out of the water. Alarm bells rang throughout his mind.