Fallen 2. Torment(22)

The entire class was surprised when Francesca stepped back alongside Steven,

took hold of one side of the shadow's border while he gripped the other, and gave it a

firm tug. "We call this glimpsing," she said.

The shadow bulged and stretched out like a balloon being blown up. It made a

thick glugging sound as its blackness distorted, showing colors more vivid than anything

Luce had seen before. Deep chartreuse, glittering gold, marbleized swaths of pink and

purple. A whole swirling world of color glowing brighter and more distinct behind a

disappearing mesh of shadow. Steven and Francesca were still tugging, stepping

backward slowly until the shadow was about the size and shape of a large projector

screen. Then they stopped.

They gave no warning, no "What you are about to see," and after a horrified

moment, Luce knew why. There could be no preparation for this.

The tangle of colors separated, settled finally into a canvas of distinct shapes.

They were looking at a city. An ancient stone-walled city ... on fire. Overcrowded and

polluted, consumed by angry flames. People cornered by the flames, their mouths dark

emptinesses, raising their arms to the skies. And everywhere a shower of bright sparks

and burning bits of fire, a rain of deadly light landing everywhere and igniting everything

it touched.

Luce could practically smell the rot and doom coming through the shadow screen.

It was horrific to look at, but the strangest part, by far, was that there wasn't any sound.

41

Other students around her were ducking their heads, as if they were trying to block out

some wail, some screaming that to Luce was indistinguishable. There was nothing but

clean silence as they watched more and more people die.

When she wasn't sure her stomach could take much more, the focus of the image

shifted, sort of zoomed out, and Luce could see it from a distance. Not one but two cities

were burning. A strange idea came to her, softly, like a memory she'd always had but

hadn't thought of in a while. She knew what they were looking at: Sodom and Gomorrah,

two cities in the Bible, two cities destroyed by God.

Then, like turning off a light switch, Steven and Francesca snapped their fingers

and the image disappeared. The remnants of the shadow shattered into a small black

cloud of ash that settled eventually on the floor of the classroom. Around Luce, the other

students all seemed to be catching their breath.

Luce couldn't take her eyes off the place where the shadow had been. How had it

done that? It was starting to congeal again, the pieces of dark pooling together, slowly

returning to a more familiar shadow shape. Its services complete, the Announcer inched

sluggishly along the floorboards, then slid right out of the classroom, like the shadow cast

by a closing door.

"You may be wondering why we just put you through that," Steven said,

addressing the class. He and Francesca shared a worried look as they glanced around the

room. Dawn was whimpering at her desk.

"As you know," Francesca said, "most of the time in this class, we like to focus on

what you as Nephilim have the power to do. How you can change things for the better,

however each of you decide to define that. We like to look forward, instead of

backward."

"But what you saw today," Steven said, "was more than just a history lesson with

incredible special effects. And it wasn't just imagery we conjured up. No, what you were

seeing was the actual Sodom and Gomorrah, as they were destroyed by the Great Tyrant

when he--"

"Unh-unh-unh!" Francesca said, wagging a finger. "We don't go for easy namecalling in here."

"Of course. She's right, as usual. Even I sometimes lapse into propaganda."

Steven beamed at the class. "But as I was saying, the Announcers are more than mere

shadows. They can hold very valuable information. In a way, they are shadows--but

shadows of the past, of long-ago and not-so-long-ago events."

"What you saw today," Francesca finished, "was just a demonstration of an

invaluable skill some of you may be able to harness. Someday."

"You won't want to try it right now." Steven wiped his hands with a handkerchief

he'd pulled from a pocket. "In fact, we forbid you to attempt this, lest you lose control

and lose yourselves in the shadows. But someday, maybe, it will be a possibility."

Luce shared a glance with Miles. He gave her a wide-eyed smile, as if he were

relieved to hear this. He didn't seem to feel at all shut out, not the way Luce did.

"Besides," Francesca said, "most of you will probably find that you feel fatigued."

Luce looked around the room at the students' faces as Francesca talked. Her voice had the

effect of aloe on a sunburn. Half of the kids had their eyes closed, as if they'd been