3: Breathing again
For the first time in a thousand years he saw the sky and breathed clean air and it was as if none of all that time had passed since he last saw the surface. The orange globe that was the sun still crept lazily along the horizon, drowning everything in a reddish light. He hadn’t wanted to arrive during the night; he’d had enough of darkness where he came from. But now, he thought, all that was behind him, although he knew that thought would never come true. They would always hunt him, trying to get him back to a prison he’d rather die than return to.
He drew in a deep breath and didn’t mind all the dust that followed the air into his lungs. At least it didn’t reek of sulphur and smoke. He listened to the birds and watched the dawn as it turned into what almost could be called day, but as the sun began to set again only a few hours later he started walking towards the north. There the sun never set; there they would have the most trouble catching him. He is a devil on the run and one day he will make it back to heaven. His name is Lucifel and once upon a time he ruled in hell.
The clean air was dizzying, it was something he hadn’t experienced in thousands of years. It was almost intoxicatingly fresh, or maybe that was a result of the unnecessarily deep breaths he took. It was hard to be moderate with something he’d be depraved of so long. He’d forgotten what it felt like and now that he was reminded, the sweetness of unpolluted air seemed like ambrosia to his weary lungs. Eventually the desert dust made him cough and he was forced to slow down, stop and then start over again with calm collected breaths. The cool, dry air made his skin prickle and even though he wasn’t really affected by the cold, he was aware of its biting edges every time the unpredictable gusts of wind were thrown against him. It was very different to the place he’d come from, and yet it wasn’t. The landscape was much the same; barren and rocky, depraved of life. But even so, this was a different world, he could leave this place, should he choose to, and go to another that was brimming with life and movement. It had taken him a million years to escape the prison from which he came. A million years of agonisingly slow and almost unnoticeable progress. He’d been the master of his dungeon, and yet he’d been the only real prisoner there.
Lucifel contemplated sitting down, staying where he was for a while, but decided against it. He wanted to rest in a bed, or at least some place soft. So he started walking. He only had a vague idea of where on the desert continent he was, but he knew that the gate was somewhere close. It seemed logical to go there, it was probably the last place they would look and he knew Uriel would not betray his whereabouts. He would also be able to find shelter in the temple, and maybe even some food left there by worshippers, even though he didn’t need to eat to survive. He still enjoyed it though. He pulled his torn cloak tighter around his body and wished he’d thought to find a pair of boots before he left. But there hadn’t been time.
The sun was setting much faster now compared to the last time he’d seen it and he wasn’t quite sure in which direction he was walking. Soon it was dark and stars were appearing rapidly, one after another, making navigation somewhat easier. The constellations looked much the same as he remembered and by studying the sky he could deduct that he was indeed walking north, towards the coast. Had he gone past the temple without noticing it?It was possible, although he didn’t think he had. He decided he needed to find a place where he would get a better view of the landscape, just a little hill would do seeing as the landscape was very flat. Maybe even a tree would suffice, He didn’t think he was far from the gate.
Looking around, he realised that finding anything but rocks and shrubs in the dull landscape would prove more difficult in the dark of night than he could be bothered with, so with a little pile of dirt as a pillow, and his cloak for shelter he lay down and fell asleep almost instantly. It was a deep and peaceful sleep, maybe the first one he’d had in a thousand years.
He woke up to the sound of voices, hushed careful voices, a man’s and a woman’s.
“Do you think he’s dead?” said the woman.
“He’s not moving, but I don’t know, he looks like he’s sleeping.. maybe.” The man sounded worried.
“Well, go look! If he’s alive we have to help him!” She sounded like a woman that didn’t take no for an answer.
“Are you mad?! He could be a criminal for all you know! We’re not in Verna anymore! ” And he sounded like a man who was used to giving in, like he knew he’d eventually go check whether the man lying on the ground, seemingly not living, was indeed dead.
“Don’t be silly, dear. He’s probably just a pilgrim like us, maybe he’s lost. Now go look!” It wasn’t difficult to imagine her leaning slightly forward as she said that, hands resting on hips.
Lucifel decided he’d heard enough to know these people weren’t of the bad kind, the kind he knew would eventually come after him. He opened his eyes, slowly to get used to the light, and sat up. The couple was too busy arguing over his potentially dead body to notice it had now started moving, so he cleared his throat and hoped he wouldn’t startle them too much. This, of course, didn’t work. The woman, who was small and very round, maybe in her fifties, jumped several feet in the air and hid behind her male companion. He was older than her, but much thinner and almost a head and a half taller. On his upper lip rested a most impressive moustache and in his hand he held a walking stick that he had now raised like a sword in front of him. His hand was trembling slightly and he looked like he was about to loose his balance. Most likely since the little woman was clutching the fabric of his coat so hard her chubby knuckles turned white. They were an odd couple, but somehow they seemed to suit each other very well.
“Sorry, I really didn’t mean to startle you.” Lucifel said and ran a hand through his dusty hair, smiling a little. “I was only sleeping, but I must confess that I am a bit lost. I’m on my way to the temple of Uriel.” The man and woman continued staring at him, not saying anything. Lucifel’s smile widened. “Maybe you could give me some directions?”
The look on the woman’s face went from terrified to curious. She didn’t leave her spot behind the man, but she loosened her grip on his coat and peeked out from behind him with a little more determination in her eyes. The man relaxed slightly and lowered the cane to the ground. Lucifel continued smiling and crossed his legs in front of himself and laid the tattered cloak over his shoulders.
“I managed to get lost last night and decided to make camp here for the night rather than getting even more lost in the dark. I was going to find a hill or a tree today so I could get a better view and maybe figure out where the temple is.” The man shook his head and sighed.
“You would have had no luck with that, lad. This forsaken place is as flat as it can be. The only way to navigate is by landmarks and compass, and even then you can’t be sure you’re on the right course. Do you have a compass? Every traveller should have a compass.” Lucifel confirmed that he didn’t and the man looked worried. “I’m surprised you even got this far.” The woman nodded knowingly when he said this.
“These are treacherous lands,” she said. “If you don’t know what you’re looking for you could end up walking in circles for days and days. Starve to death.” She gave Lucifel a worried look, as if she’d just noticed he didn’t have any supplies with him. He’d have to make up a story about why that was. It wouldn’t really do to tell them that he’d only just arrived on Earth, that he’d spent the last month in a tunnel originating in hell. Even though it wasn’t as simple as that, it was essentially what he’d done.
“Don’t you have any luggage, boy? How were you planning on surviving? No compass and no supplies, that’s just foolish if you ask me!” He hadn’t asked, but she shook her head and tutted as if she was reprimanding a naughty child. “But where are my manners? Let me introduce myself. I am Valenja, and this is my husband, Leopold. We’ve travelled here from Verna, to the north west.” Who she was now standing in front of.
“I’m no better,” Lucifel said. “My name is Lu..” He realised that they would most likely recognise his real name. “Lucas. Pleased to meet you.” They both greeted him and then proceeded to ask if he was hungry. He said he was not as he had eaten just before he went to sleep, the last of his supplies. Valenja gave him a worried look and asked him how he planned to survive the journey back, he would need food and water for that. Leopold then proceeded to tell him how long the journey was, that there was indeed no sources of water and hardly anything but bugs to eat on the way to the coast and that surely, he must have thought of that. Once they were finished, which took a fair bit of time, he told them not to worry.
“I’m meeting someone at the temple that will provide me with food and water for the journey back.” He looked down at his feet. “And perhaps a new pair of boots,” he said and wiggled his toes. This was not entirely untrue. He was hoping to meet with Uriel at the temple even though it would be an unannounced meeting. He didn’t even know if the angel would be there, but the gate was probably the most likely location. He needed to speak to someone that knew more about what was going on in the human realm. He needed to know where to start.
The three of them started walking. Leopold was leading the way with long strides, Valenja was following closely after, her short legs moving at a speed that looked almost comical. Lucifel came last, deep in thought. His mind had been so utterly focused on escaping for so long that he’d not given much thought to what he would do once he succeeded. For a long time the prospect of success had seemed so unlikely that he almost abandoned the whole idea altogether. But it had always returned to him and now… Now he was free! He took a deep breath and relished his freedom, but once again the dry dust in the air made him cough. Valenja turned around and asked if he was alright. Consumed by a fit of coughs he could only nod to reassure her, but it seemed enough. Coming from ahead, he heard Leopold recite one or another piece of information about why the type of dust found in this particular desert was more prone to make you cough. Lucifel didn’t listen. He’d stopped coughing and was now able to walk upright and on the horizon he saw a building and a garden surrounded by trees and bushes and there were birds circling above in the sky. It was the temple. It seemed radiant, or at least brighter than everything else, like she sun shone down on it with more energy than anywhere else.
Many many thousand years in the past, when the order of things had been different, he’d come through the gate quite frequently to talk to Uriel. They would stroll through the gardens, or sit down in the hidden chambers that were Uriel’s private quarters. Back in those days the traffic through the gate had been more frequent and such passages often needed to be discussed. But that had all ceased now. Lucifel sighed.
“We’re nearly there now,” Leopold said with apparent cheer in his voice. And sure enough, within an hour they were so close they could hear the birds singing and smell the flowers in the garden. It was a sweet and almost intoxicating smell and Lucifel had to remind himself several times not to send himself into another fit of choughs. Strangely though, when they entered the garden, the air seemed to become less dusty, everything seemed more colourful and vibrant and it was simply wonderful to lay eyes on something beautiful again.
They seemed to be the only ones visiting the temple at the time. Apart from the twitter of birds and the hum of insects, it was completely silent. The sun was indeed stronger here, Lucifel could feel it warming his back. they walked on till they reached the temple gates where Valenja and Leopold announced that they were going to go pray at the altar inside. Lucius told them he would join them later. He sat down on the white marble steps and felt a great tiredness overcome him. He yawned and leaned against a pillar and it was not long before he was asleep. It was good to be back.
[...] Breathing Again [...]