Crossing Over - the boundaries between Heaven, Hell and Earth are fading and nothing will ever be the same...
an excerpt

The light of the morning did not wake him. It was something else, and when he did open his eyes, he was not really sure if he was awake or not. He got up out of his bed.
“This has to be a dream…” he said softly, fingering his cloak. He ran his hands to the place where he’d torn the strip from and it was whole.
He looked around his room, but not much else was different. If it weren’t for the clothes and slight fuzziness at the edge of his vision, he would have thought he was awake. Something flickered out of the corner of his eye and he turned, heart suddenly pounding.
“Nothing there...” he muttered. Somehow, talking made him feel better. There was just something not right about this dream.
He frowned. Something was different. The light in the room seemed to be growing brighter, shimmering. Not all the light – that remained the same, or so he thought – but the light along the edges of shadow, of the darkness, suddenly was more intense. A mist began to rise out of the dark places in the room, a mist that held the blackness of the shadows. Nathan stepped back. His heart pounded rapidly in his chest.
“One of us, one of us, one of us…he’s here…”
Nathan whirled around, mouth dry, shaking. The shadows were swirling around his feet now, he could feel them creeping up his skin, could feel them as if several small little feet were skittering up legs. He yelped and jumped back on the bed. Around the room the shadows were gathering, crowding out the light. He reached back to where he’d hid the Black Mark Blade and too his surprise his fingers found the hilt of the sword and he fished it out, drawing the sword, thought he didn’t know what good it could do against the dreamshadows.
“Wake up, it’s time to wake up now…”
“We need to talk to you first, you are one of us…” It was a different voice this time, and it sent shivers down his spine. He thought it might have been female; the other had been male, he now realized.
“Who are you?” He whispered back. The shadows reached for him. The light was far, far away.
“You will know, you will know us…” Then suddenly a hand, a real hand shrouded in shadows flashed out to him. Nathan yelled and slashed at it with the Black Mark Blade, but it went through it, the hand reforming around it. Then the fingers elongated into claws and suddenly stabbed into him, into his brain, he could feel them there. His entire body went rigid.
He saw them, saw the faces of those he would know, those he might know – a man, a woman, a girl, a boy, someone he thought he knew, others. He thought…no, he was sure, somehow, that there were seven of them…he felt the shadows in his blood now, running through him, and he screamed, the Black Mark Blade dropping from his hand.
Then suddenly there was a flash of silver-white light. The light stabbed through the shadows, and there was a scream, the sound of something almost human. Then the shadows permeating him burned and he could feel their pain, and felt loss, anger, and then those feelings were gone as the light snuffed out the dark. At the end of it he saw the girl with the dark eyes standing in the room before him, a sad smile on her face.
“I have found you…and you are one of us.”
Nathan screamed and there was blackness. He woke in a cold sweat, her words echoing in his mind.

Her words faded, but not completely. When he opened his eyes he was surprised to see that it was morning, light streaming in through his window. The lantern on his deck was still on and the slight hum from it brought him fully awake. He winced, and slowly swung his legs out from the covers. They were bundled up and twisted in a way that he did not want to think about it. He put his feet on the floor and wiggled his toes against the cold stone. When he got out of bed Nerlos stirred and growled softly in his sleep, his tail and paws twitching. Nathan quickly sctrached him behind the ears; he didn’t want to entertain the possibility that Nerlos could have been sharing his dreams.
“Everything all right?” He asked the ghusthound, who wagged his tail and pushed his nose against Nathan’s palm.
“I guess so. I’m glad one of us got an actual night’s sleep.” Nathan rubbed Nerlo’s snout for good measure and then moved to the desk and switched off the stone. After a moment he tried to turn it back on. Nothing happened.
“I’ll just pick one up after breakfast…” He said, turning to open the closet at the foot of his bed when he froze. The Black Mark Blade rested on the floor of his room. For a long moment he just stared at it. Then he slowly bent to pick it up, drawing his hand back quickly the first time his fingers touched it, half expecting shadows to leap from the blade for him. He shuddered. The memories of the dream hadn’t faded after all, they were strong, stronger than normal dream memories should be. Leaning the Black Mark Blade at the base of his bed he opened his closest, trying not to think about dreams or brown eyes or shadows. He ran his hands over his clothes. Most were of similar design; all of fine cut except for one that he’d wear on training runs. His fingers paused on it. Nerlos padded over to him and stuck his head in the closet. Nathan laughed, savoring the feeling. He pulled Nerlos out by the scruff of his neck.
“I’ll feed you soon enough. Just relax.” Passing over the trainer’s gear, he picked out a blue shirt with purple fringe. There was nothing remotely resembling black in it. He selected a pair of pants without much thought. He closed the door and pulled on the clothes. He hesitated only a moment before strapping the Black Mark Blade on.
“Shadows or not, it’s mine now,” he told Nerlos who sat next to him. Then he moved over to the book shelf and took out the book. To his sudden relief the whistle was still there. He picked it up and tucked it in a pocket.
“Time for breakfast,” he told Nerlos. “And then I suppose I should go see to Bloail,” he said, almost glad for the distraction. He wasn’t quite sure he was ready to face the girl who had appeared in his dreams.

Nathan could sense the mood as soon as he made it outside. His plan was to pick up something in the kitchens before facing the rest of the day. As soon as he stepped outside, however, he could feel that something was just…wrong. Nerlos sensed it as well; he stopped in his tracks and all the fur bristled up and his growl was low and fierce.
“I know, Nerlos, I know…the air…there’s something wrong with the air…” His skin crawled with the feeling; it was too cold, entirely too cold. His head swam and suddenly he was on the ground, on his hands and knees, retching. Nothing came out but he felt sick to his core. Nerlos pushed against him, whining. Vaugely Nathan sensed guards running to him; they must have seen him when he left the Palace.
“My Lord, easy, my Lord…” he heard someone saying; he thought it must be one of the guards. He heard Nerlos nearby.
“Go! Get the Lord and Emperor...” Nathan heard the sound of running feet. He tried to protest, but the words were weak.
“No…I’m…all right…just something…I ate…” Pain exploded in his head and he twisted on the ground, the sky wheeling over him. Nerlos howled in the distance as the world around him faded. He fought it, fought to stay awake, he did not want to dream again, did not want to feel the shadows again.
* * *
“I am here…I have found you…and you are one of us…you are needed…” The words spiraled and faded into nothingness as Nathan woke. He felt a steady hand on his forehead. The face of the Lord and Emperor, his father, came into focus. Nathan tried to sit up but it was too fast.
“No, Nathan. Sit back. You can not move yet.” The tone of his father’s voice broke no argument, and his gaze was cool and calculating. Nathan sat back, wincing as he did so.
“What happened?” He managed, hacking a little. His throat was dry. Very dry.
“You were infected.” Nathan tensed. For a moment, he thought he heard her voice. “You are one of us…” He had the wild thought that his father could hear it as well, and he was more afraid of that than anything else. He didn’t know why, but he was.
“Infected?” He asked, doing all he could to hide the sudden turmoil he felt.
“The Shadows of the Namelees were in you. Luckily, I was able to save you. But it was a close call. Very close.” His father’s eyes narrowed.
“I know you were doing your duty – Tia has explained it to me – but I must curtail any further acts of stupidity. Though you seem not to want it, you must remember that you are part of the Blood, destined one day to help rule the Empire. Your life is not your own, Nathan. You serve something greater. You have become a man, yes – your actions proved that – but you do not understand what man you are. You are a man of the Blood and serve the Empire. You serve me.”
“I…”
“You must learn it, Nathan. You must. You must learn that your life is more valuable than anyone else’s, save my own. Until you do, I am taking the Black Mark from you. You are under Restricted status, until you learn.”
Nathan tasted ash in mouth. Restricted status. “You are one of us…” The memory of her words echoed in his mind, and they seemed farther away than ever.
“Until you learn,” his father said, getting up from the stool he’d been sitting on next to the bed. Nathan didn’t say anything as his father left the room, closing the door on him without a sound.
“Restricted…” he muttered. “Fine.” He curled up in a ball and turned to face the wall.

Sometime later the door opened again. Nathan didn’t turn at the sound, didn’t want to see who it was. A hand touched his shoulder.
“Nathan, it’s me,” said Tia.
“What do you want?” He asked. Anger grated in the words. He let it.
“Nathan, the girl.” “You are one of us…” Nathan let the words bounce around in his mind.
“What about her?”
“We know her name, Nathan.” Suddenly Nathan’s heart pounded and the lethargy he’d been feeling melted away.
“It’s Cedene.”
“How…?”
“I’ve been having the dreams too, Nathan.” Tia looked frightened. Nathan sat up, almost forgetting where he was and the sullenness from before.
“What?” He asked. “How did you find out?”
“The name was…etched…on the wall above my bed this…morning.” Nathan stared at her.
“There were two other words under it, Nathan.” She paused, licked her lips. “Save me. And they were written in blood.”
There was silence. It filled the small room. Nathan suddenly felt ashamed, ashamed for letting his father once again get the better of him. He would fight back, prove himself again, and persevere. As always.
Suddenly there was a pounding on the door. Tia froze. There were shouts to bring more guards, the sound of running feet.
“I thought I’d get more time…” she muttered. She stood. Nathan’s skin tingled. Shock filled him.
“Tia…what?”
“There’s more things I have to tell you, Nathan. A lot more. There is so much you don’t know. But I can’t make you come with me. That would be his way, and is not ours,” she said as she shifted to her other form, the scales appearing all along her skin and her eyes narrowing, turning green.
His way.
“You’re life is more valuable than anyone else’s…you must learn…” Nathan muttered. “You are one of us…save me…”
Tia held out her scaled hand. “I won’t make you,” she said again.
“I know,” he said.
He took her hand.