Total Eclipse

Out there, canyons trembled, and rocks shifted, and I saw part of the cliff face opposite shear away and fall to the rocks below. Her perfect sanctuary couldnt hold. She couldnt hold.

None of us could.

Please, Lewis said, and stepped forward. Imaras black eyes focused on him, and I saw him falter, just a little, before he continued moving toward her. Please let her see me.

Shell destroy you, Imara said. Dont you know that?

Yes, he said. I know. Its the only chance we have. Im willing to take that risk.

Its not a risk. Its a certainty.

I took in a sharp breath, and Davids grip on my hand tightened, warning me not to interfere. Wed done what we could, and now, Lewis had shouldered the burden.

As Id known he would, from the begi

Id thought, more than once, that he was a cold, manipulative bastard, and that was all true . . . but this was true, too. Hed sacrificed others, but hed done it because he knew, eventually, that hed stand here, in this place, and be the only one who could change the world.

My heart was breaking to pieces, but I understood.

Imara took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. Behind her, the eclipsed sun exploded back into fiery, full life, burning brighter, brighter, until I had to shut my eyes and turn away from it.

When the light receded, I looked back, and met the eyes of Mother Earth.

They werent white. They were all the colors of the sea swirling together, deep blue and warm turquoise and milky jade green. They were so beautiful. So peaceful.

So utterly merciless.

Her gaze held me, and I felt drowned in a vast, astonishing warmth. But it wasnt acceptance. Everything in me was being emptied out, examined, and found wanting.

The warmth abruptly cut off, and I sank down to my knees, sobbing with longing to feel that again, be that again. I thought Id touched her consciousness before, but it had been nothing like this, thispower. Id never felt anything like it, and I knew that, like the screams of the Dji

Next to me, David slowly, gracefully, bent one knee, and I saw him stare fearlessly into her eyes. Imaras face took on a hint of a smile, and I felt the echoes of the warmth that cascaded into him, through him, waves of ecstasy that burned even as removed as I was from the experience. Only a Dji

She fastened that deadly, warm, perfect gaze on Lewis, and I heard him let out a sound that was something between a sigh and a moan. His body went rigid, head thrown back, and light streamed from him in golden flickers and flows, cascading into Imara.

Into the Earth.

No, he said hoarsely, and with a huge effort, he stopped. He denied her.

I couldnt imagine how that was possible, but he did it. He advanced toward her, until they were no more than a foot apart, and Lewis said, You cant have me. Not like this. Not if you destroy my people.

The sea-blue eyes slowly blinked. Your people chose this, she said, and her voice was vast and bell-like, and the windows behind Imara shattered in a hail of glittering shards that fell away into the canyon. Wind whipped in, and I saw storms forming, black and furious. More of the canyon cliffs opposite fell away as the land rocked and shifted. The wooden pews in the chapel burst into white-hot flame and burned to ashes in seconds. They were warned.

Lewis was shaking now, and he fell to his knees in front of her, but his fists were clenched. No, he gritted out. Let them live. Let us live. You owe me this.

She laughed, and it was the harsh, ripping sound of claws, the whisper of feathers, the roar of lions. I was terrified, and so small, so very small before the power in this room.

The power that Lewis still resisted.

I owe you nothing, the Mother said. You owe me everything. And I will have it in payment for pain.

Thats what you want! Lewis shouted, and somehow his voice rang louder here, in this place, than hers. But I know what you need!

I had no idea how he could be doing this, talking to herImara was the only one who could have made that co

My daughters birth, her death, her raising as an Oracleall of it was a plan. A plan so vast, so complex and I could only now see glimmers of it, and the beauty and tragedy of it choked me with tears. This wasnt the Mothers plan.

This was something greater, and more astonishing, and just for a moment, I glimpsed the hand of God.

Then what do I need? the Mother hissed, and I heard a multitude of snakes, felt the burn of venom in my arm again.

Lewis didnt hesitate, and I have no idea how much courage it took, how much fear he had to overcome.

He stepped into her, kissing-close, and said, You need me.

For the first time, I felt Lewis unleash the full range of his Earth powers, and my God, it was like nothing Id ever felt before, from any Warden. It was pure, animal seduction, and it came from a place in him that Id never known existed. He wasnt surrendering to her. He was seducing her. I felt the overwhelming heat of it wash over me as a reflection, an echo, and I swayed on my knees and almost went down.

This was what made Lewis unique among Wardens. This was why hed been born in this age, so that he could stand here at this time, and do something no other human on Earth could do.

Remind the Earth that nature was more than tooth and claw, death and pain.

Hear me, Lewis said, his lips hovering just a fraction above hers, his body radiating that passion. We are part of you. Part of everything. Hear me.

He was swaying a little, side to side, and she swayed with him. It was a slow, hypnotic dance, and the sand whirling around my daughters body slowed its angry rotation, slipping and falling in a red rain to pool around her bare feet.

I hear you, she said, and it was Imaras voice, my voice, the Mothers voice, the echo of millions. And there was a kind of drugged wonder in it. I hear you.

Then feel me, Lewis said, and kissed her.

The light that exploded from them should have burned us alive, it was so purely white. Even with my eyes shut, my arms blocking the glare, I could see the two of them standing there together, swaying, merging, dancing.

David let out a sharp cry and got to his feetnot a cry of alarm, but one of triumph, of joy, of absolute relief. And all around him formed Dji

The light slowly died at the front of the chapel, and Imara and Lewis collapsed to the floor. She lay in a pale heap, hair covering her face, and as I watched the sand slip back over her in a whispering blanket, I knew she was still alive. Still an Oracle.

She opened her eyes, and sat up, staring down at herselfand at Lewis.

He wasnt moving.

I saw the grief move over her face, and she reached down and put her fingers on his cheek, very gently. She looked up at me, and I knew instantly that Lewis . . . Lewis was gone. The flesh that lay there was empty, the soul taken.

No, I whispered, and all the barriers inside me broke. Id witnessed something that had never been seen by any human beforenone whod ever livedand it had been shocking and moving and terrifying, but in the end, all I could feel was that Id lost him. Id lost Lewis.