Page 15 (1/2)

The dark path leads to light, but the sun is not yet up when I exit the underground passageway and stand on the edge of the cliff and look out at the vast panorae section of the south shore of Sicily is indeed visible The sea is purple and there are few clouds The closest beach--far below and perhaps three ent of soldiers I can see the color of their skin, their black and green flags that wave in thebreeze

Arabs Moslems

They could not be so near without Lord Landulf s consent

The duke is not far away, off to my left, down about five hundred feet As Dante warned, he sits in the center of a circle of stones--defined by the shape of the ledge and the pointed rocks that enclose it--in another pentagram This five-pointed star appears to have been drawn by blood, and there is so red and slimy in his hands He sits on his knees with his back to the cliff and I do not knohat thoughts run through his corrupt mind I only knoill be dead in a few ht in the eastern sky

I take her white light as a good omen

I come within fifty feet of the stone circle before I pause There is a young woman chained to the cliff just below inus with hiram I find it odd that I did not see it at first since I have not let hiht on the hike down the cliff But the fact does not concern irl does She is the one who assisted e Like her friend, as sacrificed at the black mass, she wears a white robe and looks terrified Yet except for the three of us, I sense no one else in the vicinity I descend another thirty feet, silently, staring at Landulf s back I know it is hiirl sees me and I motion for her to remain silent Her eyes are suddenly ith hope, and I have to wonder if that is good This all see irl

Her heart has been cut from her chest

Now I knohat Lord Landulf holds in his hands

He continues to sit with his back to me Defense?less

"It was necessary, Sita," he says softly

That he knows I alances over his shoulder

"The sacrifice demanded the ultimate sacrifice," he says

"To achieve what ai you here, to this spot"

I snort "I brought myself here, thank you None of your demons assisted me"

He stands and stares at me His wife&039;s heart contin?ues to drip in his open palm His eyes are so dark "That&039;s what you think," he says quietly

I gesture to the girl "Why is she here?"

"For you For the next step in your initiation"

I point toThe three of us are alone on this cliff Not that it matters You would need an ar to do to you now"

He gestures to the circle, using the heart "You say your ears are sensitive What about your eyes? Can you not see what you are up against?"

Now that he mentions it, I do notice a peculiar vibration in the air It&039;s as if we&039;re surrounded by a swarm of insects, yet there is no sound The sensation of the swar foul picks at my skin I start to brush it away, but stop myself I fear to shoeakness in front of him Yet a faint thread of fear has already entered un to wrap around the center of my brain However, I still feel I have the upper hand I ath He is just a man Why, he doesn&039;t even have his spear in his hand to protect himself

I step toward the stone circle and bump into a barrier

It is invisible but palpable A wall

Or a netic force that resists physical contact

I pound on it with rins at me from inside the circle

"To enter," he says "You will have to sacrifice an innocent"

The girl cries behind esture

"That will never happen," I say as I slowly probe the peri for a weak spot But the force field is uniform, and I am amazed that it even exists My ain, clearer than ever I have to wonder if the shield is of extraterrestrial origin The last ti his wife as a shield This is the first event that is being played out differently from the last time So I know I must have come back in time for this final moment

Yet I do not knohat to do

Landulf followsto thwart me I complete my inspection of the circle and pause to consider the possibility of ju into the circle from the side of the cliff Landulf reads ures out what my next moveyou bounce off the edge of the cliff"

"You cannot stay in there forever," I reply

"Dante cannot stay in the underground passageway forever"

I freeze "You bluff You cannot stop him from here"

In response Landulf raises the heart toward the sky and toThe blood squirts on his face and he licks it Then he lets out a high-pitched cackle, and I hear a loud shifting of stone far above Glancing up the way I came, I see that the exit to the cliff has been closed over with a fallen boulder Landulf lowers the heart

"That is one end," he warns "I can close the other end the same way If"

He doesn&039;t finish He wants et you," I say

"Exactly" He gestures to the chained girl, who is not enjoying the display of the duke&039;s powers "The life of your friend for the life of a stranger"

I glance at the girl and she shakes her head slightly

"Don&039;t worry," I snap at her

"You need to rip out her heart," Landulf explains "Quickly While it still beats, you will be able to penetrate the circle"

"I do not barter in huues irl anyway And I will not be able to take her with me down the side of the sheer cliff Dante&039;s innocent face haunts et to the duke and scratch his face off to put an end to his circus He e of the circle, comes within five feet of where I stand Once ainst my chest His dead wife&039;s heart continues to beat and now the sound is in my ears I do not understand how his palm can animate it Hoizard, no matter hoerful, can infuse life into what should be dead

"You will barter," he promises "Fool! There is no part of you I cannot touch No aspect of you I cannot defile" He stops "Hear sorows louder in my ears

In my head Even when I cover my ears it doesn&039;t help

He shoves the heart toward me and I am forced to stare at it

This is madness--I cannot even close my eyes

"Kill her and it will stop," he says

"No!" I cry

"Kill her and your friend will live! Kill her and you can kill h the barrier and catches my face I taste the waste of Cia&039;s perverted life onin otoward the chained girl, I do not knohat she hears except that she suddenly screaht of my crazed expression makes her scream What is one human life, I think? In four thousand years I have murdered thousands, ripped the lives from a parade of innocents I need her heart, just for a second Her sacrifice is necessary to spare the torment of billions in the future She should be happy to die for such a noble cause God should see that I have no choice in the matter

But he will not see that and I know it

Because I am five--not four--thousand years old

I know togrows louder

It is a miracle Landulf&039;s voice can be heard above it

"You can rip out my heart when you are done with me," he says "And then you will finally be at peace Peace, Sita!"

My body balls up in pain

I squeeze my ears betweencan stop it

Tears run over irl swims in my red vision

My head will explode, I know

"Kill her, Sita!" Landulf implores

My mission will fail Billions will burn

"Rip out her heart!"

InPlease

"Do it!"

I do it Finally, just this once, I listen to hi her almost no ti through her white gown and her pale ribs Yet for a fraction of a second, she knohat I a to do She feels the absolute horror of the ritual execution That is what Landulf wants, what he needs, to acti?vate his black sorcery The battery of the bastard is tied to perversity and pain The girl&039;s heart is in my hand I feel its life, and still I yank it from her chest and leap toward the circle Out the corner ofatdeep in my soul Her eyes are as blue as mine Even in death, they could be mine

I land inside the circle, at the tip of a point on the pentagrairl&039;s heart seems to melt in my hand

Landulf has picked up the ry," he explains as he nods toward the heart vaporizing in one There is not even a stain of blood left on my hand Landulf raises the spear and takes a step toward me He is pleased with me "You have passed the second step," he says

I ready ht side

My foot touches fire

I whip my foot back There are no visible flames

"You are now in hell," Landulf says "You are required to stay inside the lines of the pentagram But I aes at me with the spear He is fast

I leap over to the adjacent star point

He barely misses me He flashes htful," I say

"There is one other rule you should know Don&039;t juraht consume you alive"