Read And Eternity for Free Online

“But it’s best not to play with unknown magic. Keep it with you, and invoke it only at need.”
    Orlene nodded. “I have magic, but it doesn’t focus on inanimate things. I can’t tell whether this wand is good or evil or neutral, but I suppose I would be foolish to set it aside until I discover its purpose.”
    “I think so,” Jolie said. “Nox evidently has something in mind for you.” She was reassured by this evidence, but not completely; if Nox was watching them and wanted them to proceed, why the mystery?
    They moved on up the path. In this region they seemed solid and alive, for this was at the fringe of Purgatory, but they did not get hungry or tire in the way a mortal might. They made good progress, following the path in what they hoped was a spiraling ascent. It might have been more direct to go straight up the side, but there were loose rocks and steep faces and prickly briars that seemed worth avoiding. They were both dressed in light blouses and skirts and comfortable slippers, having no way to anticipate what they might encounter in their approach to Nox. So far, this was good enough. Jolie had expected to conjure whatever outfits they required, for the magic she had learned in life remained with her in death, and indeed had grown with experience. But when she had tried to conjure sturdier walking shoes, it hadn’t taken; it seemed that Nox banned magic other than her own here.
    Orlene paused, listening. “What is that sound?”
    Jolie concentrated. There was a faint humming or buzzing in the distance, getting louder. “Bees?”
    “Do bees swarm in the Afterlife?”
    “I never heard of it. Bees and most other creatures seem to have their own Afterlife, which only rarely intersects ours. This could be one of those intersections, though.”
    “If we remain perfectly still, they should pass without molesting us. Norton was a man of the wilderness; he educated me on the beauties of nature.”
    Norton was her lover, in life, the one who had sired her baby. He had arrived just as Jolie guided Orlene away from her dead body. Jolie kept silent, so as not to encourage saddening memories.
    The noise increased, developing a rattle. That didn’t sound like bees!
    Then the source came into view: a cloud of things that jumped and fluttered and descended. There seemed to be thousands of them.
    “Locusts!” Orlene exclaimed. “I thought those were abolished decades ago!”
    “The rules are different here,” Jolie reminded her. “I think we’d better hide.”
    “But locusts eat only plants!””
    “Among the mortals.” Jolie headed for the bushes beside the path.
    Orlene hesitated, then followed her example just as the vanguard of the swarm arrived.
    The insects landed and began to chomp. The foliage of the bushes disappeared. In a moment the locusts were dropping onto Jolie and chomping at her clothing.
    She couldn’t help herself; she was revolted by the contact. “Away!” she cried, brushing frantically at them. “Off! Off!” She hated to touch them, but hated worse to let them touch her. She heard Orlene exclaiming similarly in the next bush.
    Then the locusts began to bite flesh. Jolie screamed, and Orlene echoed her. Both leaped out of their bushes, flailing at the horrible creatures. The locusts clung, continuing to bite; their feet hooked in, making it as easy to crush them as to remove them. More descended, cloaking the women with their loathsome bodies. “The wand!” Jolie cried. “Try it now!”
    “I invoke you!” Orlene screamed, waving the wand violently.
    A cloud of darkness formed around the tip of the wand. It spread rapidly, enclosing Orlene and the locusts, then Jolie. It became night around them, complete with stars.
    There was a wrenching of the cosmos. Jolie felt herself turning around and over and inside out, painlessly, but with vertigo. The biting stopped. The locusts were gone. The vertigo was evidently too much for them.
    The cloud of darkness dissipated. Light