The Ocean Diamond (Dawnbringer, Books 3 - Part 2), page 12
She returned to the Elysian Fields, glowing in a bright light, radiant after breaking from Hades’ grasp. She thought of her first time using the siren stone, when she tamed Anna-Maria’s spirit from Hades’ possession. The key to escape Hades is empathy, she remembered. The more confident and understanding I am, the more it will destroy him.
“Are you serious? That’s how you’re going to use the siren’s stone?” Hades jeered.
“I’m more powerful than anything else in my imagination,” Dawn said. “Because I know myself. What do you know?”
Hades cackled. “I know if I break your heart, you’ll be dead before you know what hit you.” Anna-Maria’s eyes flickered from red to brown. She fell to the ground, catching herself with her hands before she fell face first.
A vein in Elijah’s forehead pulsed. His body shook, as if he were having a seizure, but Dawn knew it was something else. He looked around, appearing normal at first, but then, his blue eyes stretched into the red slits Anna-Maria just wore. His jaw stretched and ripped open, revealing rows and rows of jagged little teeth and a forked tongue that whipped in the air freely.
“No!” Dawn shrieked. “Leave Elijah alone!”
“Silly girl,” Hades-Elijah grazed Dawn’s cheek. She pushed him away, disgusted by his touch. “All love does is make you vulnerable, easy to target. Love is a wound. Is that something you really want? To be wounded all your life?”
Dawn broke away from his grasp, following the west wind whistling in her ears. In the distance, she made out a door. It was a simple door— wooden with a metal frame. Her heart was pumping so hard she could feel it in her throat. But after running and running for what felt like a while, the door didn’t seem to get any closer.
“Dawn!” she heard Damon shout behind her. “It’s a mirage! He’s manipulating the winds and the water to bend the light!”
She turned her head and found him, Anna-Maria, and Fisher charging after her.
“He’s just doing it to wear you out!” Anna-Maria shouted.
Even though Dawn heard her friends, she couldn’t stop running. The idea of stopping and losing the door terrified her. Even if it wasn’t real, she couldn’t let it go. She needed to make it inside. It was the only way to stop Hades.
“Dawn!” Fisher yelled. “I know Hades’ games better than anyone, this is what he does!”
“I can’t!” Dawn shouted. Her muscles burned as she charged, dodging souls sunning themselves in the meadows, trampling over a few. She fell over her feet, struggling to catch her breath. The three caught up with her.
A cracking sound erupted throughout the sky, splitting it in two. Between the bright blue skies, a black oval stretched across the sky, expanding by the second. Dawn covered her mouth. How am I supposed to fix that? I can’t even find the West Gate! She took a deep breath and stood up, making the attempt to stand her ground even when she didn’t know what to do.
In the distance, Elijah walked with his arms out on either side. All that he left behind was darkness in his footsteps. In the distance, hydras, harpies, Cerberus, and other bizarre creatures Dawn had never seen before charged in their direction.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Dawn said. “Why would he destroy his own territory? I thought he at least respected the dead.”
“I think this is bigger than us,” Fisher admitted. “Much bigger.”
“What do you mean?” Dawn asked.
Fisher sighed. “There was talk of releasing the Titans. And if that’s the case, then this realm is puny compared to the sprawling wastelands the Titans promised Hades.”
“Well we can’t let that happen, then. We have to make our side bigger, then.” Dawn turned to Damon. “Where is your staff? Call on all the creatures and folk you can and ask them for help.”
“Got it,” Damon said, producing his staff. He forced it into the ground, whispering to the creatures all around.
Anna-Maria plucked one of her flaming petals. She placed one in Dawn’s mouth, then the others. The heat soothed her sore muscles and perked her up.
Yeah, I can do this, she thought. I have the power of light and water on my side!
The ground began to shake, so much that it was difficult for them to stand. Dawn watched the ground, watching all the creatures pile in from all over—from animals as small as ants to amazing creatures like the elephants of Carthage and unicorns. They gathered behind Dawn, forming lines prepared for battle.
Elijah drew closer, lightning storming all around him. The bags under his eyes created a malevolent shadow, making him look like he hadn’t slept in years. His hair had turned from white to gray and his mouth was lined with red and yellow.
A tear welled in Dawn’s eye. “Elijah,” she called out. “I know you’re there. Come out. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“It seems you remember nothing from what I said before. Very good, very good, indeed. That’s why you shall fail, Dawn. You and your team are a crew held together with spit. Just look at you— a traitor,” he said pointing to Fisher. “A weakling,” he said, pointing to Damon. “A brat.” He pointed to Anna-Maria. “And let’s not forget, little miss goody two shoes who can’t follow a conversation. Don’t you know what you could be with me, Dawn? Join me and I’ll give you everything. An infinite garden filled with plants you don’t even know exist, a complete family, full magic— Hey, maybe I’ll even give you your little boyfriend back if you’re lucky.”
“I don’t make deals with the devil,” Dawn said.
“That’s a shame. We could have been good together,” Elijah sneered. Elijah’s face twisted, squeezing the goodness out of him drop by drop. Dawn’s heart palpitated as all the color drained from Elijah’s face. Whoever was in front of her now, she knew it wasn’t the person she spent all her life with. He cackled at her tearing eyes. She didn’t know how much more she could take, but she knew she couldn’t give up. This was bigger than what she wanted. This was about everybody.
Dawn took a deep breath. “Do your worst.”
Elijah smiled, revealing his blackened teeth. “Don’t mind if I do.” He placed his hands together and shot out a black blob that splattered all over the ground, dissolving the ground below her.
Dawn jumped. It was more than just a blob. It was pure, absolute darkness he was throwing at them. Darkness that consumed light, material, and everything in its wake, leaving nothing but a void behind.
“My gods,” Damon whispered. “He’s destroying the very fabric of time and space.”
“You’re ripping the world itself to shreds, including your own! Are you crazy?” Anna-Maria yelled.
“No, just starved for attention, I suppose!” Elijah shouted. He shot another blob, this time hitting one of the elephants on her side. The elephant waved its trunk, trumpeting until the darkness consumed it completely.
“That’s it!” Dawn yelled. She whipped her hands out and shot beams of light straight at Elijah. The white light immersed his sunken face, blinding him momentarily. He shouted in pain, stumbling around, discombobulated. Yet he absorbed the shock well enough. In fact, Dawn noticed he was somehow saving her light in his hand. “Wait. What are you doing?”
“Nothing you wouldn’t do,” Hades said. “Now, I have a Gate to open so I can wreak havoc on the world.”
In a puff of smoke, he disappeared. Dawn lost her breath. “Where did he go?” she shouted, looking to her friends for answers. Their attention, however, wasn’t focused on Hades anymore, but rather the army of possessed creatures of the Underworld.
“Dawn, we have to protect everyone!” Anna-Maria said.
“If I don’t find that gate, there won’t be anyone to protect!” she responded.
Dawn felt a gust of wind, rushing from the West. I fell for this before. She thought about what Fisher said; about reverse psychology. What if I do the opposite? Dawn ran away from the frontlines, leaving Anna-Maria, Damon, and Fisher to battle the mythical creatures.
“Dawn!” Damon called. “Don’t leave us!”
“I have to do this!” she yelled. She charged through the meadows, running and running until she saw the edge of the door again. To her excitement, the door grew as she got closer. Elijah was there, fumbling with the lock. He has no idea how to use light magic, Dawn snickered, snagging the sliver of hope and running with it. He doesn’t stand a chance.
Dawn pounced on Elijah. The two fell just outside the gate, rolling down the shallow hills. “You thought you could use my light, couldn’t you? Just like you thought you could use Elijah’s blood to make yourself human enough!” She punched him in the face, blinded by fury. “Well you couldn’t! You could never do what any of us do, and that’s love! You call it a wound, but to me it’s everything! What would you even know about love, your wife hates you!”
Elijah’s face morphed beyond recognition— his forehead protruded and his cheekbones rose, sharp and pointed. His lips grew thin, gray, and lifeless. He grinned with a smile full of yellow, jagged teeth. Blood filled the gaps between his teeth. He grabbed hold of her neck and pinned her down. He laughed with his mouth wide open, allowing strands of saliva to drop on Dawn’s face.
“Tell me, Dawn. Could you love Elijah if he looked like this for the rest of his life?”
“Get off of me!” Dawn kicked Elijah in the ribs.
“Would you still love him? Or would you rather he died beautiful in your memory? Because those are the choices I’m giving you.”
“I told you,” Dawn said as she pushed her shoulder against the ground. “I don’t make deals with the devil!” She opened her elbow and slammed him in the nose. He lost his grip on Dawn, cupping his nose as he screamed. Dawn scrambled to her feet and pressed her hands together. With all the force in her body and soul, she directed all the light she could manifest there, to obliterate Hades forever. Whether she did it right and got Hades spirit while keeping Elijah out of harm, she wasn’t sure. But she didn’t know when she would have the chance to kill Hades again.
“Enough!” a woman’s voice shouted.
Startled, Dawn jumped back, but it was too late. She already shot her light onto Hades. A liquidy shadow trickled from Elijah’s mouth and eyes, slithering towards the gate. “You wanted to see my true form?” Hades whispered. Two red eyes appeared in the black sludge. “Well here I am,” he laughed. “And look—” The liquid turned a vibrant, glowing white in an instant. “Look at what you’ve given me.”
“Stop him!” The woman shouted. Dawn turned around to see who was talking to her. She froze in place, staring at the beautiful woman before her. She had strawberry blonde hair in a peach-colored tunic. A warm glow surrounded her, and as she lowered herself down to the ground, she appeared as if she had stars in her eyes.
“Is it you?” Dawn asked.
“Yes, it’s me, I’m Eos. We’ll talk about that later! Now get Hades!”
The two chased after him, but before either of them could contain him, he slithered up the doorway and into lock. Instantly, the sky grew cold and dark. Bitter winds whipped across their faces, making it difficult to move.
“What have you done?” Eos shouted.
“I-I don’t know, I thought I was doing the right thing,” Dawn mumbled.
Behind her, Dawn heard Elijah struggling to breathe. Her heart stopped. She ran to him, lighting her hands up so she could find him.
“Dawn! Come back!” Eos cried out. “We need to stop him!”
“No! I can’t just leave Elijah behind!” she yelled. She cast her light all over, but couldn’t find him. Dawn started to hyperventilate, desperate to find him. It was just then that she realized the person who had received most of the beating wasn’t Hades, but Elijah. If she were responsible for something terrible happening to him, she didn’t know what she would do.
“Dawn!” Eos shouted. “Over here.”
Dawn fell to her knees. Elijah was as pale as a sheet. His lips were colorless. His eyes closed. She scooped him up in her arms and shook him. “Elijah?” His body was limp. He definitely wasn’t responding to her calls. “Is he okay?” Dawn looked up to meet Eos’ gaze. “Please, tell me he’s going to be okay.”
Eos held her mouth open. She stared down at Elijah’s cold body. The silence of a goddess said enough for her. She screamed. This isn’t real. It can’t be. She shook Elijah’s body furiously, as if her fury would wake him up. But as much as she cried and shook, Elijah fell limp.
“Come on, Elijah, this isn’t funny.” Dawn stared at his hollow eyes, once so deep and blue. Now they were barely periwinkle, staring up at the splitting sky above. Her lip trembled. “Stop messing with me! Get up!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Damon, Anna-Maria, and Fisher ran to the scene, out of breath. Their eyes widened when they saw Elijah. A hush cast over the group. All except Dawn’s crying. She curled her back, rocking Elijah in her arms. Eos rested her hand on Dawn’s shoulder.
“Come my child,” she whispered. “We will preserve his body. When—”
“What do you mean by his body?” Dawn snapped. “He’s here. He just needs to wake up.” Dawn grabbed Elijah’s face, pinching his jaw in her hand. She pressed her lips against his. That’s when she knew. The cold, empty kiss that wasn’t even a kiss, because Elijah was not present to share it with her. She looked at Elijah, whose eyes were still fixed in the same spot.
She could hear Anna-Maria crying; Damon whispering to her, trying to comfort her with no success. Fisher squatted next to Dawn. “Let me close his eyes,” he whispered.
“No,” Dawn mumbled through her tears. “I can’t give up yet.”
“Dawn,” Fisher said. Maybe Fisher said something else after that. A solution, words of wisdom, something. But as Dawn stared into Elijah’s empty eyes, everything and everyone else around her faded away. A sharp, twisted pain pierced her deep inside her chest. It was as if someone had stabbed her, and the hole stretched and stretched, undoing everything that made her who she was. She grabbed her heart, too weak to even try and breathe.
In a vortex of echoes, her senses flooded back into her. Relentless, as if making up for lost time, she felt too much. The weight of Elijah’s body, her legs falling asleep from holding him for so long. The crying, screaming, and wailing from the lost souls of Elysian Fields. One of whom had to be Elijah, a ghost, lost in the mayhem, with no one to keep him warm.
Dawn fell backwards. Her spine crashed into the ground. Up above, pieces of sky burnt black. Ash spilled in the air. Flakes drifted down, falling on Dawn’s skin, burning hot then suddenly going out. All that remained was dust. Another twist in her chest. Dawn’s body contorted as she shouted in pain.
“Dawn?” Eos asked. “What is it?” The goddess placed a hand on her cheek. She directed Dawn’s face to hers. Dawn stared in the goddess's warm, cinnamon-colored eyes. She gasped. She looked deeper into Eos’ eyes, but the more Dawn tried, she came up with nothing. She could feel nothing. It was as if all the love and compassion she had was gone. All that was left was sorrow, loneliness, and a terrible emptiness that took all the warmth out of her body. She shivered.
“My,” Dawn mumbled. “My heart.”
TO BE CONTINUED
ELON’S AUTHOR NOTES
SEPTEMBER 27, 2021
Love makes the world go round… or is it money?
Well, it should, and does.
I love the care many of you readers put in crafting your own artistic creations. I receive several from you and encourage you to share them with the Light Rider readers.
Love is in friendship. Love is in family. Love is romantic and it’s also taking good care of ourselves.
Some are surrounded by many friends and large families; others might feel closer to lone wolves. I’ll admit, being a writer, I prefer to tuck myself in some nice spot and write away.
This might at times feel odd to the social butterfly, but I also realize how many dimensions of love there are.
Whether you’re happy in a crowd and have a busy social life or you’re perfectly fine in the company of a few, let your love shine through.
It’ll be one of the best gifts you’ll ever have, and you’ll ever receive.
Big hug Light Riders!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ELON VIDAL
Writing a book is the result of many minds and interactions coming together. Inspiration, experience, and insight is gathered from everywhere, and this shows in how this all finally comes together.
I want to begin by thanking you, the readers, who become a part of these stories by reading, reviewing, recommending, and buying the books. It is thanks to you that people like me get a chance to keep tapping into the imagination and sharing new stories. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Thank you also to the team at Light Age Media. Without Erynn, Jordi, and several others, this would not have been possible. You have breathed life into these stories and made it so that they could engage with a wider audience.
I also wish to thank Ty, Marty, Ja, and Josh who have guided my way to publishing and have opened up my world of what was possible from my laptop and with determination. I now feel much more empowered to keep sharing these stories as a way of life.
A special thank you to my Advanced Reader Group who have offered valuable insights early on to improve the story. Stay tuned to know how you can become a part of it.
A note of gratitude also goes to my early teachers at writing school. I had always wanted to write novels. Always gathering ideas and thoughts for inspiration. We began with short two-page stories on Friday evenings and soon after I was hooked and moved onto novels. It still took many years to getting down to writing my first, but I never let go. I smile every time I walk past your school and remember the beginnings.
And thank you to my friends and family who want to see me continue to do what I love. I appreciate your support on this journey and for this craft.
