The Tears of Time

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The silence was broken again, some voices panicked, others blatantly refusing to acknowledge the existence of such a creature. Gabriel knew that many of their fears lay rooted in the fact that the Seer was rumoured to be human.

Then awed silence crept through the crowd.

Those sitting stood, as Elanor jumped from above, her face composed. The movement was fluid, as if she fell through water not air, the impact of foot against floor making hardly a sound. Raphael looked up from behind Gabriel, his heart already broken from the words Elanor had uttered to him before she had dived into the void.

Elanor breathed deeply, the emotions that ran high in the room washing against the edges of her mind. Anger, fear, hope, desperation, expectancy, and finally, emanating from one person in the room; peace. She looked up, dismissing the gazes of the Host to catch the eyes of Dumah, the one angel who knew exactly what was happening. For the Spirit had not only entrusted her with silence.

“This is her?” Ramiel asked, still standing.

“This is she,” Gabriel nodded.

“Who will testify to the nature of this… creature,” Ramiel asked, unsure of what to call Elanor, who so obviously was no longer human.

“I can,” Dina said, standing up shyly, “Though she is different from when I last saw her, this is still she.”

“How is she different?” Ramiel asked.

“Her physical form is now that of her soul,” Dina explained, revealing to Raphael the nature of Elanor’s transformation.

“I see,” Ramiel nodded, “Can anyone testify as to the child’s birth?”

“I can,” came a soft voice from above.

Time stepped off the roof and landed next to Elanor, her movement just as fluent and elegant as Elanor’s had been. As her cloak settled, she nodded slowly to the counsel and Host. Whispers began to grow once more, and Elanor noted a further spread of fear. She realised, amused, that the angels feared neutrality more than they feared evil.

“Time, you know you are not welcome here,” Ramiel warned, his eyes narrowed darkly at the Immortal’s presence.

“I know, but I must testify. If you grant me this, then I shall leave,” Time spoke.

“Let her testify, Ramiel,” said Mihra, who placed her hand on the standing archangel’s. He nodded, sitting down slowly.

“Thank you Mihra,” said Time, her sad smile spreading slowly across her face once more, “This child is my own, fathered by Fate, though also born of Nothing in the dire need of our times. We hid her on Earth in mortal form, knowing it to be unsafe for her should she remain with us.”

“And this is your testimony, in truth, in front of the both the Host and the Spirit?” Ramiel asked, still suspicious.

“It is,” Time replied.

“Amitiel?” Ramiel asked.

“She speaks truthfully,” replied the angel, the most powerful truth-teller on the counsel. Ramiel nodded at the answer, and Time nodded back.

“I leave, as promised,” Time said, exchanging a smile with Elanor before turning on the spot, disappearing from sight.

“I think we have proved who she is,” Gabriel said, when Time had left.

“It is my job to doubt, Gabriel,” Ramiel spoke, his eyebrows furrowed deeply, “After all of this, why should we believe the world is to end by her hand?”

“Because it is the truth,” came a female voice. Ramiel’s eyes widened as he looked to his right, where Dumah stood, her silence broken.

“Dumah?” Gabriel said, shocked.

“The time for silence is over,” Dumah said, her lilting tone filling the room despite its softness, “In the beginning I was entrusted with the knowledge of the End, and I can feel it coming. Elanor knows this too. She feels as I do, the urgency with which these last days speed towards the End. My final testimony is this; she knows what lurks at the End, for she has experienced the void and come out unscathed. Soon she will depart from us, only to return when our time is over.”

“Is this true?” Ramiel asked.

“It is,” Amitiel nodded, standing up to grasp Dumah’s hand tightly in her own.

“Then you are our end,” Ramiel said, looking towards Elanor.

Elanor stepped up to the dais, which remained vacant since Time had left. She looked out over the faces which surrounded her, in a single look catching each individual gaze with her own.

“I am only a channel for what is to come,” Elanor said, her voice ringing with power, a foreign edge underlining her speech, “I have seen the end, and I will bring it when the time is right. But first I knew that I must warn you, for there is still much doubt in your hearts.

“I come now to ask you; are you ready? There is no going back from here.”

The only remaining member of the counsel sitting, Mihra, now stood. She glanced around her companions, then gazed up at the sky for a moment. Finally, she walked over, cupping a hand around Elanor’s cheek as she stepped up to the dais.

“No one will ever be ready,” she said, “Except you. Remember mercy when you release the void unto us.”

“I will,” Elanor said, in the brief contact sharing her vision of the coming destruction. Mihra nodded, satisfied with the answer.