Death's Embrace

I sat on the bed of the hotel room and watched Drear pace back and forth. Darkness surrounded us except for the glow of the flickering TV where the blurred lines of obscure actors and actresses flitted across the screen. Believe it or not, I kind of liked the darkness and almost wished the TV was off. The darkness had a sort of calming, protective affect on me. Sort of like Drear at times; well, Drear at any other time besides now.

"Drear?" I tried to get his attention one last time. This time my voice got through to him and he stopped.

"Do you realize he has my sword?" Drear grimaced, remembering how Shymal had taken it during our last encounter.

"Really? I-" I stopped mid-sentence. Now was not the time to be sarcastic or witty. Drear was deeply troubled. My eyes followed his darkened figure as he resumed his pacing once more.

"Do you know how bad this is?!" he stressed.

"Pretty bad, judging my your reaction." I pointed out.

"Ha. Judging by reaction." Drear shook his head with a bitter laugh and stopped.

"Well, do you really need the sword?"

"It's just a tool I use. It helps to ensure the souls of the ones who die truly leave this world."

"So then you don't really need it?"

"No, but it makes things a hell of a lot easier!"

"If that's all!"

Drear closed his eyes and tipped his head back so his face was upturned to the ceiling, "You still don't understand the gravity of the situation!"

"Then explain it." I crossed my arms and tried to remain somewhat of a soothing element.

"To me, that sword is just a tool. Do you want to know why?"

I shrugged, "Because you are already Death."

"Precisely."

"Really?" I was shocked I had gotten that right. "Sorry, keep going." I added hastily when he raised an eyebrow.

"What you don't know about that sword is it makes Death."

"Huh?"

Drear put a hand to his face and stared at me, "Do you remember how Jeton passed the duties of Life on to you?"

"Ya..." I said, not really seeing what he was getting at. Jeton had kind of just resigned and said I was to take his place. No fancy ceremony or anything. A wave of sadness swept over me at the thought of Jeton.

"Well, this sword is another way to do it, only with Death."

"Jeton never gave me anything." I frowned, shaking my head and not comprehending what he was trying to say.

"Listen carefully and try not to get confused." Drear came to sit on the edge of the bed and stared at the wall across the room. "Jeton did what is supposed to be done. He went through the higher powers to get the switch, but there are other means."

"And this sword is one of those means?"

Drear lowered his head into his hands and remained silent for a moment, finally he lifted his head and looked at me. "Yes, the sword is one of those ways. I believe Shymal is going to try to usurp us."

"You mean replace us? With just a sword!? What a horrible system! Who thought of it? I'm gong to write them a strongly worded letter!"

Drear smiled slightly, but it quickly faded. "This was thought of in the event of an emergency where a replacement was needed immediately. What would happen if Life or Death ceased to exist? Even for a moment?" He shuddered. "The sword isn't enough, however. They have to have the approval of the opposing partner to take on the new form. A safety measure when done in emergency situations, if you will."

"Then we're fine. You think I would betray you like that?"

Drear looked over at me as if seeing me, really seeing me for the first time that night. "I guess not."

"You guess?" I gave him a stern look.

"Alright, I know. Better?"

"Much. So why were you soooooo worried?"

Drear fell back onto the bed with a sigh and stared at the ceiling once more, "Because it is Shymal. He was after you before you were Life. Now he's going to triple his efforts in order to force your approval and take over as Death."

"But I'm not going to grant him your position! I don't see what the problem is!"

"He might even try to kill you."

"So now he wants to take over as Life too? He's going to be very busy..." I shook my head. Drear was just being silly now. "Besides, I'm not granting Shymal ANYTHING!"

Drear rolled onto his side to look up at me and I let my head rest in my hand. "Lea, you might not have a choice. If Shymal succeeds in killing you, you'll have one brief second to chose someone as your successor or else let all of life die. You'd have to pass it on!"

"Then I won't die!" I rolled my eyes. "I'm not entirely defenseless!"

"Lea-"

"Look Drear, chill."

"There's more to this."

"More?" my eyes opened wide, unbelieving that there could possibly be more!

"There is a staff."

"A staff..."

"Of Life."

"So?"

"So you don't know where it is, do you?" Drear looked at me as if he had just made a point.

"Uhh, should I?"

"Jeton should have. He lost it long ago in a battle with- nevermind."

"What?"

"That is a story for another time." Drear muttered.

"First they would have to find it, then they would have to get my consent to make someone else into Life. Seems kind of far fetched." I sighed in weariness at trying to keep up with all of this.

"Not quite as much as you would think. If someone has the sword and the staff, they can combined them and they don't need our consent for anything." I stared at him, speechless. "Exactly."

"So we have to find this staff." I pressed my hands over my eyes, feeling a headache coming on.

I felt Drear pull my hands from my face and place his cool hand against the side of my face, "Lea?"

"This is all too much!" my eyes must have shoed my despair, for Drear pulled me into him.

"The two of us can take, Shymal."

"You and Jeton couldn't." I let my eyes close as my head rested against his chest.

"Jeton and I were brothers, not-"

"Not what?"

Drear pulled me away from him so he could see into my face, "Not-" BAM! The door flew open and the two of us jumped to our feet.

A young man stood in the darkened door and called in with a heavy British accent, "Oy! I'm looking for a Drear and Lea Amanar."

"That's us." Drear stepped forward and blocked me slightly from sight.

"You two married or something?" the man asked, still standing in the door.

"Or something." Drear answered. "Who are you, if you don't mind me asking."

"Not at all. Can I come in?"

"Care to tell us who you are?" Drear said, a touch of frost in his voice now.

"And what you want?" I piped in, peering around Drear. Geesh! I felt so small next to him!

"Ahhh! There's the little imp I was told about!" the man laughed.

"Do we know you?" I asked. I had this funny feeling I knew him from somewhere.

"Nope. Name's Samuel Cox. Sam for short."

Drear nodded for him to come in and he flicked on a light. The man that stood before us was tall, lean, and muscular. His hair was a dark brown/red and his eyes were a noble grey. Sam, in jeans and a grey-blue turtle neck shirt, could have fit in with any group of humans that walked by. The only thing that threw me off was that I could tell he wasn't human. He sat down at the small round table and flashed a confident smile at us.

"How did you know where to find us?" Drear asked suspiciously.

"Didn't. Lucky guess."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow.

"No, luv. You're both the talk of the Underworld."

"We have an Underworld?" I whispered to Drear.

Sam smiled, "Sure we do! We've got a Heaven, don't we?"

"We do?" I looked at Drear again. How come I couldn't sense them?

"Later." Drear whispered. Great, another thing that needed explaining. I felt like I was back in school again or something.

We looked back at Sam and realized he had been studying us, "You know, you two have an interesting relationship."

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

Sam shrugged, "Life and Death, you're polar opposites. One would think you'd be at each other's throats."

"Just goes to show, you don't know everything. Now what's this all about?" Drear crossed his arms and looked at the man as he propped his feet up on the table.

"Well, some of the boys and me heard about this Shymul character-"

"Shymal." Drear corrected him as I sat down on the bed and crossed my legs, letting my chin rest in my palm.

"Right. Shymal." Silence.

"What's your point?" I asked from the bed. Drear stood next to me protectively.

"He's looking for you."

"Really? We had no idea!" Drear narrowed his eyes. "I think it's time you left."

"Hold on there, pal!" Sam swung his legs around and leaned forward. "I came to tell you something don't know! There are some people that know where the staff is."

"How do you know about-"

"Not the point. You two are going to have to go back to the States to find him."

"Him?"

"And her."

"Him and her?"

"That's what I said, isn't it? These two live down in one of the oldest sections of the country."

"Which is?"

"Old St. Augustine. I was told to tell you to meet them at the lighthouse at 6:00 am. They're names are Co and Clydia."

"How would they possibly know the location of the staff?" Drear asked.

"And how do we know this isn't a trap?" I added.

"Seers. You don't, but what chance do you have if this Shymal finds the staff first?"

Drear and I exchanged looks, "And why do you think Shymal will find it first?" I asked.

Sam went sort of quiet, "Because he has Bridget."

"Well that explains it all!" Drear's voice was seeping with sarcasm. Sam looked at me with an unspoken plea in his eyes. His eyes triggered something in my mind. I could see it, his life. Past, present, and future. Jeton's handiwork.

"Bridget is the daughter of Co and Clydia, two ancient seers who told Sam about the staff and where to find us. Bridget and Sam are together, but she's been kidnapped by Shymal. Sam," I blinked out of the trance-like state, "What exactly are you?" I couldn't read him. It was just one big, confusing mess.

"Who knows if you don't." Sam shrugged.

"So why didn't you just go after this Bridget on your own?" Drear asked.

"Me and the boys did." Sam lifted up his shirt to reveal his torso. I gasped and stared at the long slash marks that stretched all the way around his body. The skin around the deep flesh wounds was all colors of black, purple, and blue. "And that was just his servant guy."

"PAUL did that!"

"I guess that was his name." Sam scratched the back of his head. "The point is, we can't do it. We can't get her back and well, we figured that since you had beef with this Shymal guy..."

"That we'd help get Bridget back as well." I finished.

"Forget it. We have too much on our hands already." Drear glared.

"Drear?" I looked up at him with pleading eyes. "She's going to play an important role in this. A very important role." I could feel it. Drear's determination slowly washed out of his face while he studied mine. He finally nodded his head and Sam visibly relaxed.

"Meet bright and earlier. 6:00 am. Don't forget." Sam got to his feet and made his way to the door.

"We'll be there." I called as the door closed.

Drear made his way over to the door and locked it. He then did something interesting. He ran his hand along the edges of the door and for a moment, they glowed a midnight blue that seemed to crackle with electricity before fading. "No one can get in now." Drear sat down in the chair with a sigh and looked at me.

"That's good." I laid back down on the bed. I suddenly felt Drear's weight next to me and his face swam before my eyes.

"Lea, are you sure this is a good idea?" his hand intertwined in my hair as he gazed down into my eyes.

I laughed slightly, "No! Of course I'm not! I would prefer to avoid the whole thing altogether, but I know we can't."

Drear's face softened, "Have I told you how much I love you?"

I stiffened slightly, "You've mentioned it. Today you were kind of preoccupied though."

"I guess I was."

"And a little crabby." I continued, feeling his arms wrap around me.

"True." he barely whispered.

"And sort of-" I lost my train of thought as his lips brushed against mine, taunting me. He was driving me crazy again, and I knew he was doing on purpose.

"Sort of what?" he pulled back slightly.

"You know I can never remember when you do stuff like that!"

"Stuff like what?" he asked innocently.

"Stuff like-" his lips met mine.

"Like what?"

"Huh?" I asked in a daze. He laughed slightly, and stroked my hair back out of my face.

His face went serious suddenly, "God, you don't know how much I love you." he whispered. I just looked up at him. "I swear, it's almost unhealthy."

"You're talking to the person who prayed for Death!" my lips twitched in amusement. "What could be more unhealthy than that?"