Elizabeth woke and dug her nails deep into her scalp. It felt like her brain was about to explode. She writhed on the bed wanting to curl into a ball, but her training kicked in and despite her pain, she checked her surroundings. She was alone in a tent of sorts, where the floor was grass, the walls were made of patches and slivers of light crept past the seams in the fabric. On her bedside were two chalky pills and a cup of water. She chewed them both without thinking and swallowed the contents of the cup, which she found out was not in fact water, but some vile substance as bitter as a lemon. Elizabeth stuck out her tongue and retched, but the drink was already down.

  It hurt to exist. But I am alive, Elizabeth reminded herself. I survived.

  Out of habit, Elizabeth grasped for the wooden cross around her neck. It took three attempts before she looked down and realized it wasn’t there. She also noticed that she was naked except for bloody bandages. She prodded the bandages and the skin underneath felt tender, but that part of her body was painless. She checked and there were no wounds, only pink skin.

  She swung out of the bed and then groaned when she felt her brain wobble inside her skull. Elizabeth removed the bandages and put on her clothes that she found in a neat pile. Atop the pile was a wooden cross hanging from a chain of small, green beads. Today Elizabeth and Marshal would cross into the Messiah’s land where she would find the Messiah’s plate. If what the witch’s words were true, Elizabeth would not need to wait to become a holy knight. If all went well, she would return to Earth tonight.

  Elizabeth stepped out of the tent into the sunlight. The sun was rising to the east and a flock of strange birds were chirping, although their chirp sounded closer to bark. They had thin black beaks that were long as their body and multi-jointed legs which supported their round white bodies. They walked and nipped around Elizabeth’s feet. She glared at them and they fled in a puff of feathers as if sensing her intent.

  In all directions there were small tents arranged into neat rows. Men and women, wearing the shirtless garbs of Capernaum, walked on the trampled dirt paths between them. One woman stopped and stared at Elizabeth with widened eyes, ‘You’re awake already, it’s only been a day,’ she said. ‘No, no this isn’t good; you really should be lying down.’

  ‘I’m fine.’

  The woman walked over and began feeling Elizabeth’s body. Elizabeth squirmed and pushed the woman away. She is lucky I did not smack her for touching me like that.

  ‘Wow! You really are better,’ the woman exclaimed.

  ‘Of course,’ Elizabeth said. ‘Healing magic does that.’

  She smiled; it was the kind of sympathetic look people gave children when they said something ridiculous with absolute confidence. ‘The doctors healed fatal injuries, but they wouldn’t waste lifespan on other injuries that the body could heal with rest and recovery.’

  ‘Then what happened?’

  ‘I don’t know, but you should still lie down. It’s not good to push yourself.’

  Elizabeth brushed the woman off. ‘I said I’m fine. Where is Marshal?’

  She put a finger to her chin. ‘The Red Bear? He’s probably in Grey Beard’s forge, but like I said-’

  Elizabeth cut her off. ‘Thanks.’

  Elizabeth started walking away, but the woman called out again, ‘That boy in the armor is still asleep and he isn’t doing too well. You should see him before you go. He’s in tent thirty-two.’

  Elizabeth waved to the woman. There was no way she had time to waste on Gabriel. At the end of the day, he did not matter enough to her that she would waste time seeing him in bed when Marshal was waiting.

  * * * *

  Tent thirty-two was a shabby thing, just like all the others. Elizabeth stood at the entrance, rocking on her heels. She reached out to the curtain and then drew her hand back. Her fingers twitched nervously. Finally, she took a deep breath and brushed through in one jump.

  Elizabeth almost thought it was someone else laying on the bed and she had walked into the wrong tent, but it was him. His head covered in those lazy blonde curls, when he grimaced, his too white teeth flashed and when he convulsed, his sapphire eyes flickered. However, everything was wrong. His head caved in on the left side and cuts lined his face where stitches pulled the skin together. Some of his teeth were missing and his left nostril had entirely collapsed. His skin was all grey with splotches of pink.

  Elizabeth rushed over and placed her hands on his chest, but he winced, muttering in his sleep, so she drew back. Rattles and whimpers filled his gasps.

  The bronze shackles were still attached to his wrists; they wouldn’t be removed until he ascended to the holy order or died. By the side of his bed lay the broken greatsword that he so stubbornly held onto and so did his armor that he refused to remove no matter how much the honor village mocked him. In the end, he had forced them to accept him for who he was, but now he was nearly unrecognizable. This was too far.

  Grey Beard did this. Elizabeth clutched the hilt of her blade. I will kill him.

  She heard him say something, but it was too soft to discern.

  Why am I awake when he looks like this? It wasn’t fair. Elizabeth clutched the cross around her neck and ran her fingers over the coarse grain.

  Elizabeth didn’t know why, but she pulled the necklace over her hair and placed it around Gabriel’s neck. Luis had protected her, so maybe his cross could save Gabriel. She didn’t need it anymore, she would see Luis again soon. Tonight Elizabeth would leave Gabriel behind in this realm and return to Earth, but not before she avenged him.

  Elizabeth found some paper and ink. She wrote him a note for when he woke. She didn’t think he knew Spanish, but he should be able to read it regardless. If Elizabeth never saw him again it was important to say goodbye.

  ‘I’ll kill him,’ Elizabeth promised, running her fingers through his golden hair.

  The forge sat above a grassy hill. It was made out of pale stones where no two bricks were the same size or shape yet they managed to form together without gap or mortar. Smoke drifted from the chimney and the steady clang of steel on iron rang out, sharp and clear through the soot stained window. A red door sat square at the top of a staircase that wound its way up the mound. Behind that door is the bastard who put Gabriel into that horrible state.

  On either side of the entrance were two guards in full plate armor. In one hand they each held a spear, in the other a rectangular shield. That armor looks just like his.

  ‘Halt,’ the guards commanded, crossing their spears over the door.

  ‘Are you holy-knights?’ Elizabeth asked, already knowing the answer.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Then don’t tell me what to do.’

  ‘We are under the authority-‘

  Elizabeth didn’t have time for this. She ducked, lowering her body in a snap. The guards with their thin visors looked around frantically as if she had vanished. Elizabeth swung her blade at the left guard’s side, her blade when coated with noctra should be capable of slicing through steel, but the edge only fractured the armor. Why does everyone from the ash school have such strong defense? Elizabeth didn’t stop, she charged in and when he tried to block with his shield she landed an uppercut that raised his body off the ground. When he landed, he crumpled.

  ‘Attack!,’ the second guard yelled. ‘Sir, there is an intruder outside the forge.’

  He squared himself behind his shield and pointed his spear towards Elizabeth. Come at me, Elizabeth thought, but he never approached and only hid behind his shield. Fine then, I’ll attack. However, when Elizabeth went to step forwards her body wouldn’t move. Not a muscle would listen to her will. Reverence, the ash technique of restriction. She felt a pressure on her body and soul, like a great stone was trying to push it down, like a hose was trying to extinguish her fire.

  She would never allow it.

  Elizabeth screamed and when she almost had run out of breath, her foot slammed down one-pace forwards. Then her next step followed. The guard’s eyes, hiding behind his visor, widened. The pressure doubled and he grunted. An invisible python was constricting her from all sides, begging her not to move. Her next step slammed down, the stone cracking beneath her feet.

  The guard edged backwards, his hands shaking.

  Elizabeth marched, her glare fiery and cruel, ‘Don't… run…’ each word a struggle to say, ‘I… will… kill… you.’

  The red door slammed open.

  A wave of hot and humid air washed over Elizabeth, it stunk of sweat and coal. Lurking in the doorway was a man as wide as he was tall with a trailing grey beard that reached down to his knees. His crescent smile that was missing two front teeth pushed his face into a thousand wrinkles.

  ‘You’re awake!’ Grey Beard exclaimed with blood-curdling joy in his voice, ‘and you came all this way to play again.’

  Elizabeth’s head turned, slow and mechanically. Her heartbeat raged and her breath became ragged.

  ‘Sanya, Sir,’ the guard said, ‘This beast attacked us out of nowhere! I am restraining her with reverence. End her quickly, she is dangerous.’

  Grey beard inspected Elizabeth as she took another step and replied, ‘Are you restraining her, she seems to be moving to me.’

  ‘I-’ the guard stammered, ‘I need more training sir.’

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  ‘Indeed you do. Now release her and return to the barracks.’

  ‘Pardon?’

  ‘Release her, do you think I am incapable of handling a hatchling?’

  ‘No, Sir. Yes Sir,’ the guard said and the pressure vanished, setting her free. Elizabeth wasted no time in attacking. She pulled back her sword, preparing to swing at Sanya.

  ‘Take note; this is how you use reverence.’

  Before Elizabeth could attack, the python returned its invisible embrace. Elizabeth couldn’t breathe, not a single fiber of her being would respond to her will. If the guard had the pressure of a boulder, this was the entire mountain. Her soul shrunk down, an ocean pouring over her flame.

  ‘Are you ready to play?’ Sanya said, towering over Elizabeth.

  She was forced lower without anything touching her. She tried to scream and fight back, but any resistance was squashed before the sheer volume of Grey Beard’s noctra.

  ‘Stop Sanya,’ Marshal said, emerging from the forge.

  ‘She attacked me first,’ Grey Beard said. ‘I have every right to self-defense.’

  ‘You dished out your defense ten times over yesterday. Now release her.’

  ‘Oho,’ Grey Beard said, ‘That isn’t an order is it? Last I checked we were both knights of the holy order.’

  ‘No, it is not. It’s just a request from an old friend.’

  Elizabeth was released from the invisible embrace. She thought that as soon as she was free she would take her opportunity to resume the attack, but instead she collapsed onto the floor. She gasped, struggling to regain her breath.

  ‘You always were the boring one Marshal,’ Grey Beard said.

  Marshal ignored Grey Beard and pushed past him. He knelt over Elizabeth, ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, ‘I know you’re hot-headed, but this seems excessive.’

  ‘That bastard,’ Elizabeth sobbed, ‘He- Gabriel, the nurse said he might not wake up. He looks terrible. Whatever that bastard did, he went too far.’

  ‘What is she talking about Sanya? You said that your medics would heal them both.’

  ‘He is in pain!’ Elizabeth shouted.

  ‘Hmm?’ Grey beard hummed, scratching his beard, ‘Oh the boy in the armor? Well he was already too far-gone. I’m sorry to say, but he wasn’t worth saving.’

  ‘Wasn’t worth-!?’ Elizabeth started.

  ‘That wasn’t the deal, Sanya,’ Marshal said.

  ‘Well, I just used some common sense.’

  ‘A deal is a deal. Or do we need to take this outside of the city?’ Marshal asked, flashing an inch of his blade.

  Grey Beard grinned, ‘Do you think…’ his grin turned into a grimace then he ground his teeth, ‘No, we do not.’

  ‘So we understand each other?’

  Grey beard waved his hand dismissively, ‘Yes, yes. I’ll have the medics see the boy again, but understand it will do no good.’

  ‘Just fulfil your end of the bargain, I have already fulfilled mine.’

  ‘Fine.’

  ‘That’s it?’ Elizabeth asked, ‘He puts Gabriel into a coma for no reason and that’s it?’

  ‘Do you believe in Gabriel’s strength as an honor-knight?’

  Elizabeth grimaced, ‘That’s got nothing to do with-’

  ‘Do you believe in Gabriel’s strength?’ Marshal asked again, this time twice as firm.

  ‘I do.’

  ‘Then he will be fine,’ Marshal said, ‘He is his own man and a fully-fledged knight. There is nothing more we can do for him here beside trust in him.’

  ‘Sir,’ a female voice called out, climbing the grassy hill. ‘I heard there was an attack. I rushed right over. Is everything okay?’ It was Cleo, the captain of the guard, with her absurdly thick neck. She looked like a thumb with a silver painted nail.

  ‘No, it’s fine,’ Sanya said, ‘but it is time for our guest to leave the city. Please escort them to the apostle plate of Matthew.’

  Cleo snapped into a stiff upright stance and saluted Grey Beard. ‘Yes Sir.’

  Grey Beard gave a sloppy salute back and then stormed back into his forge, slamming the red door behind him.

  ‘We should get moving Sir,’ Cleo said, this time addressing Marshal. ‘I will lead the way.’

  Cleo turned and began walking down the hill.

  Elizabeth picked up her sword with her eyes on the red door, but Marshal put his callused bear paw on her hand. ‘Don’t,’ he said. ‘You won’t accomplish anything by going in there. If you attack him again, I won’t be able to stop him from killing you; and make no mistake, he will kill you.’

  ‘So what should I do?’ Elizabeth asked. ‘Forget everything he did?’

  ‘No, you should remember. Harbor your frustration, your hatred. Grow stronger. Reach the rank of holy-knight then come back and kill him.’

  ‘You’re strong, why can’t you kill him?’

  ‘Because I can’t,’ Marshal replied and with that, he lumbered down the hill after Cleo.

  Elizabeth grasped for the cross around her neck, but it was gone. I’m coming, Luis. She took one last look at the red door, sheathed her blade, spat at the threshold and followed Marshal. I am sorry Gabriel, you will have to get your revenge yourself.

  * * * *

  When Elizabeth died two years ago, she woke up in a room without a ceiling. One moment she was standing in a field of maize, hands tied behind her back, waiting to be shot; the next she was standing on a large bronze disc with a churchly man offering her a hand. The walls were made of colored glass, the floor was polished marble with strange glyphs inscribed. She still remembered staring into the open sky, three sparrows flying above, thinking she had arrived in Heaven.

  Every capital city had that room; they called it the gateway. Every capital city had a grand cathedral and every capital city had an angel that floated above its center. The city of Capernaum, capital of Matthew, had none of those, yet it still had that bronze plate, the true gate between Earth and Purgatory.

  Everyone who had ever arrived in Purgatory arrived on one of the world's twelve apostle plates. What less people knew is that each plate connects to the Messiah’s land, a secret path operated by the Holy Order.

  Capernaum kept the apostle plate of Matthew covered under a green tent, large enough to house a circus. A ring of guards surrounded the perimeter and as Elizabeth approached, she was greeted with a variety of cold stares. Word of her attack had spread fast. Past the first layer of guards were six more standing in a circle, but instead of protecting the gate from outside threats, they all watched inwards. Each one seemed strong enough to be a knight. Coated in armor and holding a large rectangular shield.

  Even as Marshal and Elizabeth came right up behind them, not one turned from the plate.

  ‘You must excuse them for not greeting you Sir,’ Cleo said. ‘They are on duty. We cannot risk any unauthorized individuals coming through from the other side. We aren't on the best terms with the Church after all.’

  ‘No offense taken Captain.’ He looked at the ring of ash-knights. ‘Even I wouldn’t enjoy this welcoming party.’

  ‘That’s the whole point.’

  ‘Good to know.’

  ‘Don’t act like you don’t have the exact same thing on the other side.’

  Marshal grunted, scratching his rusty beard, ‘have you ever been to the Messiah’s land captain?’

  ‘I haven’t and I have no desire to.’

  An unfriendly look was shared between the Red Bear and Cleo.

  ‘Well then, shall we get going?’

  Cleo walked up the ring of ash knights. ‘Abram, step back. Two personnel will pass through.’

  On command a tall plated man took two steps backwards and two to the side. Elizabeth and Marshal walked through the gap and onto the bronze disc. It had the sigil of a goat burned onto its surface, Elizabeth remembered something similar on the apostle plate of Peter when she first died. Closing the circle behind them, Abram retook his post.

  ‘What do I do?’ Elizabeth asked.

  ‘Send noctra into the plate, it will do the rest.’ He looked at Cleo, ‘Thank you for your hospitality, Captain.’ Cleo saluted Marshal and he returned the gesture. ‘See you on the other side Beth.’ Marshal disappeared, vanishing into thin air.

  Elizabeth remained alone in a ring of ash knights, each one capable of ending her life. Their gaze made it difficult to think straight, but Elizabeth closed her eyes and focused on the flow of lifespan beating through her soul. She pushed her lifespan down her body and out through her feet; the plate accepted it.

  Then time stood still. A voice, high and sweet, whispered into her mind, Thank you young one.

  Elizabeth tried to spin around and find the source of the voice, but still frozen in time she could not move, Who are you? She wondered.

  Who are you? The voice mimicked.

  I am Elizabeth, she thought, not fully conscious of the fact she was having a conversation in her mind.

  The voice hummed, seemingly satisfied with this answer. I am someone who has forgotten their name a long, long time ago, but you gave me a gift so today I am a friend.

  A friend?

  Yes a friend, have you never had one before? The voice giggled in her mind. As your friend, I can help you in two ways; the first is to take you to the king, the second is to help you find who you have lost.

  Someone who I have lost? Elizabeth thought for a moment. Can that be anyone?

  Yes my friend. The voice sounded excited. Who is it?’

  My brother, Luis.

  Think of him.

  Elizabeth did. She thought of his smile and how he loved to race her on his short legs. She thought of his dimpled cheeks and dark curly hair and as she remembered, the voice spoke again.

  I cannot find him.

  You said you could find anyone.

  Anyone on Purgatory. Your brother either is not in this realm or he is hiding himself well, but if you ask the king, maybe he can find him!

  Where do I find the king?

  I’ll send you to him now! Good luck Elizabeth my friend!

  Wait-

  The world flashed to white.