The Grand Attraction Page 23

  And so he ran as quickly as possible-- sweeping his daughter up into his arms and fleeing toward the only thing that made sense with Narrl close behind. The worn figure was undoubtedly loyal to Carls and his daughter, and for that he found strength to keep moving.

  The glass panes began cracking under pressure of the swarming insects. He saw the expanse still before him and how it seemed to grow farther away. And thus he ran harder. And harder.

  The doors all about him opened their floodgates of illusions and illusionate. Carls was fighting his mind to keep track-- adjusting his tracks as ground unknowingly gave way and roots unexpectedly formed pathways and bi-ways. His heart pounded. The illusionate were gaining upon him and Narrl.

  Narrl! He glanced behind him and saw nothing. “Narrl!” he shouted, daring himself to stop for a better look. The thick behind him made it difficult to make out, but he was there-- illusionate piling about him; his eyes looking to Carls for last hope, and then closing. Carls knew exactly why.

  The pass between them split and new terrain formed. Narrl raised his forehead and smiled. He was going to give himself. “Narrl!” Carls yelled again, trying to stop him.

  But it was too late. The beast emerged.

  Carls hated himself for turning away, but he wasting the time Narrl had sacrificed for him. He did not know where the window led, nor if he would make it, but in faith he leapt out, and, daughter shielded in his cloak, broke the clasp on the grand attraction-- behind him, the force of a trillion wings obliterated what remained of the once elaborate mosaic display. Carls felt the dark surround him as he hit against the concrete-- somehow alive. Barely able to move, he stood and watched as the black regathered itself and hung monstrously in the sky above him. He was outside the holds of the mall, yet no joy was felt in the cold bitter breeze against his skin. He took it in regardless, but bitter it was. He had to swat away at the insects he dared to inhale. His hands lowered down to the shoulders of his daughter who grabbed tightly to his side. But her grip soon released as she looked into his eyes. She knew what it was he was asking of her, and thus stood still, not against will, but because she believed in him enough to throw her life in whichever direction he desired. She entrusted him with her fate, even though she was too young to understand its significance.

  The dark was approaching. The small trails left behind brushed about him and dug into his eyes. He stepped back and held out his palm-- a Henser.

  I need you to live….

  Golden bars shot from the card and formed around her a cage of impenetrable power. It was just large enough for her to stand in. Should she touch its edges, it would disappear, but while inside, nothing could harm her. Nothing could touch her. The cloud hit his own barrier too swift for him to stop it completely. He was surrounded my countless specks of biting, relentless insects. But through their heaps he could still see the cage in which his daughter faithfully stood. “I will not bow!” he yelled out to the demon he fought, a torch lighting from his hand and a blast of heat erupting in splendor and lighting up the earth. The Chamber of Fire unleashed its full furry and in its wake… only ash. Carls felt the fingertips that had held the card burn. Above him the sky thundered at the ashes he had brought. His skin was drying, eyes burning, but he pressed further from his daughter until he was sure to have the dark’s attention. And there, while the storm gathered its reigns, Carls looked down upon his own hands. All I wanted was for you be safe, he told himself. I would give my entire world to ensure that. And now, I must hold to that promise.

  A blue glow emanated from his form and connected with that of his daughter’s.

  The Trust Seal of Bondage-- had the Dealer meant it to come to this? He then held out the Nightingale’s gift: an ocean-blue revolver. A unique gift it was-- a valuable one. All my life I thought that if for all I strived for, I would at least be blessed with a family. Well God gave me such. And He nearly took it all away. But now I give it all to Him. He’s blessed me with my wish, now I must finish on His behalf.

  A bolt of energy surged from the single barrel, its aim splitting the bond that had once bound his daughter to him. From the corner of his gaze upward, he saw her surprise, and her body fall through the gold and into the arms of Serve Per Card.

  The Gambler?!

  Their eyes met—Carls unable to believe his eyes at the moment, but he had to. The echoes of his demon forced him to.

  A hot current ruffled through his clothes and already-singed face, and in it he cast his final card-- not knowing how they came to his fingers, only that his daughter and Serve Per Card were now shielded for their own escape. As for he, he gazed into the forming eyes of a force so dark, he knew nothing more terrifying.

  And in that thought, his eyes shut and he took in his last breath for all he knew.