Anthony, Piers Incarnations of Immortality 04 Wielding A Red Sword

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this anomaly.
Inside it seemed empty-but Mym's sensitivity to minds alerted him. "Something is here," he said.
Ligeia passed along the central aisle, feeling the air above the pews with her hands. "Yes, there is
something-ghostlike-some presence-"
"Ghosts-in Hell?" He touched a region she had indicated and felt it. "No, not exactly. These are mere
thoughts. Instead of people, or spirits, there are only thoughts here. One thought per person."
"Each thought in lieu of a person," Ligeia repeated. "I wonder why? And why do they stay here, alone
and quiet?"
Mym phased in to a thought. It was of suicide.
"I think these are people who committed suicide," he said. "They aren't quite damned, but Heaven
doesn't really favor them, so they are here in limbo."
"But I committed-" she said.
"And you were damned for your other crimes-killing the other people in the airplane. Rightly or
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wrongly. Otherwise you might have found yourself here."
She nodded, agreeing. "It really isn't a bad place. Or a bad situation, being a thought."
"But we can't stay," he reminded her. "We have other business."
"Yes..." Almost reluctantly, she followed him out of the church.
They found a fallen tree that spanned the stream. The horses walked up it, employing their uncommon
balance, and jumped down at the other shore. They were across the river and through the fence, too.
"The suicides," Ligeia murmured as they rode away. "In a church on an island in the River of Sorrows. I
suppose that's fitting, somehow."
"If they had reason to do it, it doesn't seem right to send them to everlasting torture," Mym agreed.
She seemed satisfied with that, but remained pensive as they rode on.
Now they were in the region of forgetfulness, bounded on the other side by the River Lethe. The demons
at the checkpoint, true to form for this region, had forgotten to be watchful, and Mym took them out
without trouble. The damned souls of this region took over the checkpoint.
Four down; one to go. This one was in the frozen region, bounded by the River of Lamentation,
Kokytus. They had no trouble crossing its ice-but they knew they would not have the advantage of
surprise this time.
"If we make this one, we shall be successful," Mym said. "If not-"
"I love you, Mym," Ligeia said. "If I never get out of Hell, I will still be better for that."
"I will not leave you in Hell," he said. They leaned over, each riding a wild horse, and kissed.
The final checkpoint was indeed expecting them. Demons were ranged along the fence on either side of
it, standing in the snow, each bearing a flamethrower.
They drew up at a distance, concealed by snow-covered trees, and considered. "No way we can get there
unchallenged," Mym said. "If I approached invisibly, my footprints would show in the snow; in any
event, I couldn't overcome several hundred demons."
Snowbeard, the leader of the snow movers approached. "You have the other four regions secure?"
"True," Mym agreed. "But without this one, I doubt the revolt can be successful."
"But we're committed anyway, now," the man said. "All the souls in the other sections will be tortured,
after the demons crush them one by one, and us too. So we might as well go for broke."
"What are you thinking of?" Mym asked.
"Charging them outright. I know it's crude, but we do outnumber them, and-"
"That checkpoint is protected," Mym said. "You might eliminate every other demon, but you couldn't
get close to that one, and you wouldn't have the checkpoint. You would be throwing away your lives for
this day without hope of success, and adding to the torture to be heaped upon you in the following days.
I would not ask you to do that."
"But if you made yourself invisible, and took out that checkpoint while we distracted the demons by our
charge-"
Mym looked at him appreciatively. "When you made your commitment to this effort, you really meant
it," he said.
"We all did," Snowbeard agreed.
"Then make your charge," Mym said. "I will go in invisibly and, when I have taken out the key demon, I
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will manifest and let you know."
"Right, Mars." They shook hands. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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