Two Sisters, Chapter 2 ~ The Silver Road

Inside the Gate was the most beautiful thing Eliasha had ever seen.

As soon as they stepped through the bit of broken fence, they were engulfed by a bright light, and she felt a rush, as if falling; as if pieces of her were falling away with every step.  But it didn’t hurt; it felt as if she was shedding an unneeded layer of skin and would emerge cleansed and new.

She could feel Sien’s hand in hers, but could not see him, and yet the blinding light didn’t hurt her eyes.  Soon, it faded, and they were standing in a world of darkness spiderwebbed by silvery strands connecting a million glowing pinpricks of light.  It was like seeing a brilliant night sky with all the constellations outlined; only instead of staring up at it, they were standing in it.

“It’s beautiful,” she said, her voice sounding small and muted in the vastness.

“It’s called the Silver Road,” said Sien.  “All the spots of light you see are Gates, leading to infinite worlds.”  His tone was one of reverent awe, as though no matter how many times he’d been through it, it could never become commonplace.

She glanced at him, then down at her feet.  She was standing on a path made of light, and it was difficult to tell exactly how wide it was.  It seemed, all at once, to be just wide enough for her to stand side by side with Sien, and wide enough for an army to march down.  It seemed to shift with each blink, but if she was careful to keep her eyes open, it undulated and stretched and turned.  Unstable as it seemed, she felt completely safe.

She realized after a moment, that as Sien held onto her left hand, River was standing beside her holding onto her right.  She looked down in surprise.  She hadn’t seen the ghostly manifestation of her sister ever since what she had come to think of as the Awakening.  The illusion of the Lost One as a wandering spirit seemed unnecessary, once knowing that it was a part of her.

“We cannot be together in this place,” River said, gazing up at her from the dark eyes of the little girl.  “Not as we are in the world.  If you let go of my hand, and walk out, you could be free of me forever.”

Elly frowned.  “Why are you telling me this?”

River was silent.  Sien was not.  He dropped Elly’s hand in shock when he saw who she was talking to, and took a step back.  Now he asked, “What is that?”

“My sister . . . myself,” Elly replied, without a glance.  Then, to River again, “Are you suggesting I leave you here?”

“I can travel the Gates,” River said.  “But if you let go, I will be nothing more than a lost spirit again.  And you can never give me a body outside your own.  I’ll be lost forever.  But at least you would be free of me.”

“I wouldn’t do that.”  She would not allow herself to think about it.  “I promised.”

River almost smiled.  “I thought you should know.  That you should be able to decide.  I never gave you a choice when I possessed you, at the very beginning of your life; so I’m giving you one now.”

“I’ll be free when you have a body of your own,” Elly said, and held tighter to the hand that was not really a hand; a ghost-hand that could only hold onto hers.

River said nothing.  Her ghost-face was a mask; one that Elly had not missed looking at.

“Let’s go on,” she said, turning to Sien.  He had been watching the exchange in silence, but his face wore all the expression River’s did not.  He stared at her with horror, and when he looked back to Elly, she could see the suspicion replacing confusion in his eyes.

Then he straightened, with purpose, and took another step back, as if fitting himself into the mold of the Airidani soldier on a holy mission.  He asked no more questions.  She could almost hear him saying to himself, “Think of Airidan,” when he said to her, “Follow me.”

She did not take his hand again, as she and River silently obeyed, following him down the strange, shifting pathways, past Gates that seemed to turn and look at them as they went.  She didn’t know how long they walked, for everything seemed to shift in that place, even time.  It would be easy, she thought, to get lost.  When she looked back, the path behind seemed the same as the path ahead: a vast maze of Gates, and she could not tell which one they had come from.

For the first time in that place, she felt a little uneasy.  But she took comfort in the thought that if Sien were to leave them (or get lost), River would know the way.  She felt that if River were not separated from her, she would know the way as well.

Eventually, Sien approached one of the Gates, and as they drew nearer, it changed from an indistinct glow to something with form.  It was the form of a person, standing at the end of its branch in the road, and Elly understood why it had seemed as if the Gates had eyes to look at them.  It’s because they do, she thought, feeling rather stupid.  She had read her father’s book about Gates and Otherworlds, and it had talked about Gates and Gatekeepers.  They were, she saw now, one in the same.

Sien stopped before the Gate, and knelt.  “Airidana,” he said.  “I have returned, with the Queen.  We respectfully beg your leave to enter.”

“You know that you do not have to ask, Son of Auriel,” answered the Gate, in a woman’s voice.  “This is your home and you are always welcome.”  She looked at Elly and River.  “You bring with you two Keys, or perhaps one?”

Airidana stretched out an arm over Sien’s head, and rested a hand of light on River’s head.  “Troubled thing,” she said.  “I am not the Gate you are looking for.”

“I travel with them,” said River, seemingly unperturbed by the knowing words.  “I am searching for no one.”

The Gate smiled.  “You think you cannot love, but you already do.”

Before River could respond, or Elly could question what she was talking about, Airidana reached out with her other arm and enclosed them all — the sisters and Sien, still kneeling respectfully with his head bowed — in a brilliant white hug that made Elly feel as she were falling, falling, falling again . . . .

And then they were standing in the sand.  Both of her hands were empty.  She could feel River nestled familiarly in her mind.  It was very hot, and the sun was beating down.  There were boulders on either side, and Elly looked down to see that the sandy path beneath her feet wound down a rocky hill to a larger road running perpendicular to it.  On the road was something that looked like a Humvee, and two men dressed in the same drab uniform as Sien’s were leaning against it.  The stood up straight when they looked up the hill and saw the pair emerge from the Gate.

They barely held Elly’s attention, though, because from her spot on the hill she could see a desert vista of rocky hills, pale grass, sand, and scraggily trees.  This place was not barren, but it did look severe, as if all the bushes had thorns and under every rock might lurk an exotic, deadly creature.  She could see for miles, and off in the distance there was a city of tall buildings surrounded by a wall.  She could not make out much more detail, and any other sign of civilization was perhaps hidden by the hills.

“Airidan,” said Sien briefly, as if it needed no other introduction.  Then, “Come, we’d better hurry; we need to get back to camp before nightfall.”  At her questioning look, he added, “We’ll go to the city in the morning.  I’m taking you to the Temple of the Seven, where they will . . . evaluate you . . . and determine whether or not I’ve really found the Queen, as I’ve been claiming.”

There was so much uncertainty in his voice.  Elly said nothing, only shared her thoughts with River.  Let them evaluate all they want.  They’re getting a queen whether they like it or not.

“Does anyone here speak English?” she questioned as she followed Sien down the hill.  The men by the Humvee (she didn’t think that’s what it was, but it was the name stuck in her head) were standing at attention, eyeing her curiously.

“No,” said Sien.  “But I will teach you our language.  I’m the only one who knows both.”

“I’m glad for that,” Elly observed.  “I half expected that you were going to abandon me to strangers.”

“It has always been the responsibility of the Son or Daughter of Auriel who discovers a Queen, to teach her the ways of Airidan and help her begin a new life here,” Sien said, stiffly, not meeting her eye.

You will have to explain to him about me sometime, said River.

And a great many other things, Elly acknowledged, thinking of Sam, and the look on Sien’s face when she told him she was no longer his own virgin discovery.  She felt lonely when she looked at him, marching beside her, and was glad . . . very glad . . . that at least she had River.