So let us have this first great battle between good and evil. A conflict that will change the face of man, the face of this world, and the face of the universal truths most often no man understands.
More battles must be fought; wars must be won before there can be peace.
The task is long and we gods cannot interfere, at least not directly, until man knows we exist again and until we can assure ourselves we have been cleansed of the evil that weakens our own union.
The young will now have their day. Their first day of pain and salvation can no longer be avoided.
Let us see where we must go next . . .
Pet’r could feel the Ahar'n bouncing gently against his chest as he ran up the stairs and could sense what he was doing was a necessity. He needed to rescue his friends and provide safety for the Ahar'n. His escape was a requirement to do both.
Releasing himself from his bondage required no effort particularly; he simply broke the chains, tore open the cell door and went looking for his friends.
He raced up the staircase he saw Voravia taking earlier, came to a large closed door, threw it open and found his friends being held captive in Voravia's chambers. Geth'n's legs were bound tightly. He was dangling from the rafters by his neck, no longer able to keep contact with the table beneath. Anisah was holding Geth'n's legs trying to lift him and relieve the pressure on his throat.
All in the room turned, except Anisah and Geth'n, when Pet'r burst through the door.
Several of the creatures instinctively attacked him. He rid himself of those pests quickly, throwing them in different directions across the great room.
Voravia expelled a great gasp as he crashed in and she quickly ran to the far corner of the room. At first she felt fear, but during what ensued it was apparent she was regaining her composure and trying to devise some sort of spell to bring this man under control. She shook her head, as though deciding against one of those ideas, trying yet another.
More of the creatures attacked. Rab'k, having recovered from his surprise, joined the fracas. Bodies were flying through the air, not all of which were dead, but certainly not without some damage.
Rab'k came from behind, took a great swing with his sword and was astounded by what happened next.
Pet'r sensed the sword coming at him, paused, raised his arm out of the melee and caught the sword in his outstretched hand.
Rab'k stood for a moment, staring at Pet'r's hand. There was no damage; there was no blood. The sword simply stopped.
Then Rab'k was pulled forward violently. Thinking quickly, he released the sword and flew through the air, landed solidly on his shoulder, rolled and sprang to his feet.
He shook his head roughly from side to side. He could not believe what just happened. He had never experienced being tossed away from a battle like a limp doll. Anger rose in him; he charged back into the fracas, flinging Voravia's creatures aside to get to this man.
Pet'r immediately began to work toward his friends, one of who still hung helplessly. He finally came close enough to them to do something, but he had to rid himself, at least briefly, of this turmoil stirring about him.
He snatched a great curtain from a window nearby, flinging it, encircled the creatures around him and tugging with his great strength threw the entire bundle across to the other side of the room, smashing Rab'k against the wall with it.
He turned then, reached and snapped the rope holding Geth'n aloft. Anisah was staring at him with total disbelief.
Who is this man?
“Pet'r?“ she stuttered. Geth'n fell to the floor coughing and sputtering, trying to get his breath. Pet'r turned back to Anisah and tore the bonds from her wrists. Spinning around again, he raised Geth'n from the floor and did the same for her. Anisah reached and held Geth'n while he gasped, holding him up as he struggled.
The creatures meanwhile disentangled themselves, and with fumbling effort, were on the attack again. Others began to arrive from the other areas of the castle.
Pet'r glanced over at Voravia whose smirk told him there were plenty of these beings to expend. He looked toward the door from the stairs, realized there were too many of the monsters streaming from there, turned and saw turrets just outside the great windows.
He pushed his friends to the window, glanced again to assure himself this was to be their escape route, turned and met the next assault.
Rab'k, stunned by the impact of the bundle of creatures smashing into him, was only now recovered enough to join the fray. He was hampered, in many ways, by the swarming bodies. Because of the jumble of beings, he wasn't able to obtain a clear path to the man.
He decided this man was the very one he saw at the thieves' encampment long ago, but much more dangerous. He pushed against the pack, tossing some of the creatures out himself. He couldn't believe the strength of the man. He never knew anyone else who could fight this way, no one had ever bested him so easily.
Pet'r suddenly became aware of Voravia again. She was doing something, he wasn't certain what, hindering his efforts in some way. He couldn't understand but knew he had to change the situation.
Turning sharply despite the constant attacks at his back, he smashed the great window. It exploded outward and rained shards of glass down the castle wall, flying pieces fell to the crevices and porticoes below, and some reached the ground.
The hillside the castle was built on was not far below. The fortress itself was built into the great bluff rising high above the building. This wouldn't normally have been a safe measure, if the castle was intended for warfare. That problem occurred to the designer but was constructed and built on the whims of its new owner, Voravia
Pet'r, once again, threw his attackers off. He grabbed the lines previously holding his friends aloft, threw most of them out the window and tied them safely.
"Leave! Now!" he shouted to Geth'n. Geth'n stood for a moment, not knowing what to do.
"Go! I will follow!" Pet'r shouted at him again. Geth'n jumped into action. He grabbed Anisah, still staring at Pet'r. She looked again at Voravia who presented her earlier with the greatest shock of her young life.
Anisah’s world was changing too rapidly for her mind to catch up; she seemed to be sleepwalking through this whole scene.
"Come, Anisah!" Geth'n was yelling at her, pulling her arm. Anisah shook her head to clear her thoughts, jumped up, reached out, grabbed the rope, and slid down it to the ground below while Geth'n watched.
When he knew she was safe, Geth'n ducked back into the room. He spotted the scrolls, reached and snatched them from under the feet of those fighting around him. Anisah stood below waiting and held the rope while Geth'n slid to safety.
It was impractical to try to circle the castle to run toward the south so they headed eastward along the foothills of the mountains towering above them on the left. They didn't know where they were, but they found a narrow path and began to run down it.
Geth'n followed Anisah trying to help her as she stumbled along. He looked back several times, wondering where Pet'r was.
Pet'r occasionally glanced at his friends as they escaped out the window; he was busy holding back this screaming and maniacal horde though throwing them about quite easily.
He became more aware of Voravia's efforts. Voravia was able to conjure a spell she knew instantly was effecting this Guardian. She was intent on destroying him and reaching the Ahar'n, but she wasn't quite able to bring her powers to the concentration needed to do great harm because of the commotion in the room.
Pet'r was weakening somehow and he needed to escape before the deterioration in his strength became too serious.
Suddenly, a sword crashed down on his shoulder. He staggered from the blow, turned and saw Rab'k raising it to strike again. Pet'r grabbed the closest creature and pulled him between himself and Rab'k as a shield. Rab'k's blow practically severed the being's body completely.
Pet'r threw the lifeless form at Rab'k who flinched, raised his own powerful arm and flipped
the carcass away. Pet'r, however, had leaped out of the window and disappeared.
Rab'k ran to the window, saw Pet'r land safely below and begin running after his friends.
"Come, we must catch them!" he shouted to the beings in the room still standing. He ran into the outer hall, raced down the long stairs at the end and out the great front gate with the creatures following him closely.
Voravia went to the window and looked down the path at the young people running away. Rab'k and his band came into view, running after them.
She paused for a moment, looked eastward, and saw what Pet'r noticed the day before.
A plateau, only short miles away, seemed to glow even in the smothered glare of the day. The clouds from the sea raced above the land, darkening but still light-filled.
Strangely the day was bright, though there was no direct sunlight. She knew she must reach the plateau before Pet'r. She wound a spell around herself and disappeared.
"Run! Run!" Pet'r was shouting to his companions scrambling through the rocky paths ahead of him. He looked back and could see Rab'k leading Voravia's creatures. He couldn't determine where Voravia was but sensed she was somewhere near; his decided she was ahead of them.
He halted for a moment, measured the widths and sharp angles of the path just covered, walked behind one of the larger boulders, heaved against it mightily. It began to roll ponderously down the hillside and into the path of those following, effectively blocking the way to the top.
He could hear shouting and cursing from beyond the great stone as he turned and ran along the path to catch his friends.
"Where are we going?" Anisah gasped as she ran. She was feeling sensations strange to her. She couldn't understand them. Though she was running now, she felt no great fear. There was a different kind of urgency in what they were doing than simple fear. There seemed to be a purpose.
"I don't know. Keep running!" Geth'n answered from behind her. He looked back and saw Pet'r was quickly, catching them.
And Geth'n could feel something changing within him. He sensed a strength he hadn't known before. He knew his movements were becoming smoother, his leaps across the rocks longer, his pace faster and faster.
Ahead, Anisah too was increasing her pace. They were exceeding what was humanly possible. Yet when he looked back, he could see Rab'k also keeping pace though the creatures of Voravia were falling far behind.
More surprisingly, Geth'n could also see Pet'r was quickly catching him.
Where did Pet'r get these powers? This is all beyond belief. What is happening to us all?
He kept running, following Anisah.
They suddenly broke through the boulders, and ran onto a great plateau. The surface was astonishingly smooth, glass-like, glistening in the waning light. Strangely no flashes came from small glints of light striking the surface. The surface seemed indeed to absorb the light, drawing it into somewhere below.
In the center of the plateau stood a column rising from the plateau to the height of two men. On top of it set a small elongated black stone with six evenly cut sides. The whole glowed, as if by its own light, and seemed to draw great energy from the surface on which it sat.
Energy spikes crackled from the crystal and rippled across the mountains, flashing a dark light across the plains spreading southward, thunder reverberated through the canyons beyond.
Geth'n jumped through the last gap between the boulders and stumbled as he stepped onto the deceptive surface below him. Righting himself, he turned, looking for Anisah. She was standing to the left of a column, staring beyond it toward Geth'n's right.
He turned to look and saw Voravia standing, glowering at him and speaking in low tones some incantation he couldn't hear, moving her arms in an arc. A form, or wavering substance, gathered in the air above her. The same aura emanated from the column and surrounded Voravia. Suddenly, Voravia's arms stopped moving. She pointed both of her hands in his direction and he could feel something surging toward him, saw the light slowly traveling across the plateau directly at him. He couldn't move. He was stunned by the beauty of the light, oblivious of what was happening.
"Geth'n, Move away. You're in danger!!" Anisah shouted at him.
Her shout was too late. The full force of the charge of light struck him in the chest. He felt himself being lifted into the air, flying backward faster and faster. He could hear Anisah screaming as he floated away. He could see all of the area below him; it moved away in slow motion.
Anisah ran toward Voravia to tackle her; she could see Pet'r had almost reached the plateau.
Hurry, Pet'r. Anisah's in danger.
His mind beckoned. Geth'n flew away several miles then realized he was falling. Looking down he knew his fall was taking a long time and realized he was slowing as he fell.
How is this possible?
He raised his arms, extending them; his fall began to slow even more and he floated gently to the ground. He stood looking around for a moment, astonished at what just happened.
Did I stop my own fall? I must have; there is no other explanation.
He felt no pain from the attack; he looked at his clothing and realized no harm had come to him. He turned and looked back toward the plateau.
I need to return. I must save Anisah.
Once he completed the thought, he began to rise rapidly into the air, turned and flew back toward the plateau more quickly than he left it.
Pet'r bolted through the boulders, leaping into the air and tumbling on the hard surface. He couldn't see Geth'n, but Anisah was standing to his left, staring at Voravia. Voravia was glowing with an evil light.
Pet'r landed on his feet, grabbed Anisah and dashed into the boulders on the other side of the plateau. Voravia either wasn't able to react, or missed an attack against them, for he felt no sense of anything happening.
"Are you all right? Anisah, answer me. Please,” Pet’r held Anisah close to him and whispered in her ear. Her eyes were staring wildly about; she seemed to be in some sort of stupor. Suddenly, her eyes cleared; she turned toward him and smiled.
"I'm fine. She has done nothing to me. I think she won't. But, you and Geth'n are in great danger," Anisah answered him, now looking with a soft tenderness.
He was surprised at the feelings rising inside him when he looked at her face.
"Why wouldn't she harm you as well as Geth'n and I?" he asked her, looking around him. It was too quiet now; he wondered what was happening on the plateau.
"Later. I'll explain later. I think you should go help Geth'n. She threw him into the air, in that direction," Anisah explained, pointing in the direction she saw Geth'n fly away.
Anisah placed her hand on Pet'r's chest, gently pushed him back. A look of surprise crossed her face. Pet'r turned to see what had happened.
Geth'n suddenly rose above the rock parapet, his robes rippling around him. He softly landed on the plateau.
"Woman! Dare you use the powers?” Geth'n shouted at Voravia. You cannot be so stupid to think you can eliminate us. You and the others have plans for this world, but they cannot be allowed to come true. This evil will be stopped now."
Pet'r could hear but couldn't understand. Anisah looked at him with alarm and puzzlement on her face. Geth'n was challenging Voravia.
But how?
Pet'r move to the edge of the plateau though still behind the boulders hiding Anisah and raised his head enough to see over the boulders.
Geth'n, to Pet'r's right, was standing solidly in place; his arms folded across his chest. From this stance, he was looking across and talking to Voravia on the other side. Geth'n was unprotected, was obviously angry, angrier than Pet'r could remember, and was obviously unafraid.
Suddenly a great bolt of the black light rippled from Voravia's direction, striking Geth'n squarely. But just before it reached him, a flash of white shimmering light surrounded Geth'n and the black bolt glanced away harmlessly.
Pet'r looked at his old friend in astonishm
ent.
Have we all become something beyond ourselves? What are we now, who are we?
He turned and looked back at Anisah who jumped up and ran to his side. "What is happening?" she asked him breathlessly, as she peered over his shoulder.
"Geth'n. Geth'n has magical power I never knew,” he answered, looking again, planning when he could bolt out and help Geth'n.
At that moment, Rab'k broke through the boulders on the far side and ran onto the plateau, almost bowling Geth'n over as he ran by.
Geth'n didn't step, but drifted backward, avoiding the charge of the other man with only a glance as he passed. Rab'k spun around and prepared to attack again.
Pet'r leaped through the air, struck the man with his own body, sending him flailing and falling to the ground.
Jumping up quickly, Rab'k turned to meet his attacker. Pet'r was already too near for him to do more than try to ward him away. Pet'r smashed Rab'k's head as he passed, dizzying him and causing him to stagger even more.
"No, Voravia. You can't do this!!" Anisah ran out of hiding and was shouting at this woman who claimed to be her aunt. Now though, she was running at her to stop her from harming so many.
There has to be something I can do to stop this.
Geth'n saw Anisah coming between himself and Voravia. He glided, floating laterally to his right, passing the column between himself and Voravia and diverted her attention from Anisah's approach.
He raised one arms, hand extended, and released a surge of white light. Voravia turned her attention to this attack and blocked the light away. Her face openly showed her surprise at Geth'n's new abilities, this man had power beyond any she had ever encounter. He may be as strong as Mano'n.
She jumped softly from the ledge, gliding to the surface below, watching Geth'n intently as she moved. He made no attempt to attack her again.
Suddenly Anisah interrupted the scene, knocking Voravia sideways. Anisah had boldly attacked when Voravia's attention turned to Geth'n. Voravia staggered and slammed against a boulder, reached down to clasp the girl by her shoulders. She threw her backwards through the air and back onto the gleaming surface of the plateau.
Anisah slid for several feet before slamming into a wall of boulders. She lay limp.
Voravia turned her attention back to Geth'n but discovered he had disappeared. Rab'k jumped up, shaking his head to clear away the dizziness and saw Pet'r attacking again. This time he stepped backward slightly, knelt on one knee and struck the other man solidly in his stomach. Pet'r seemed to hang there in suspension for a moment before spinning away, staggering backwards across the plateau.
Rab'k, thinking he now had an advantage, rushed to the advantage. But Pet'r straightened, stepped sideways and continuing to turn, slammed his elbow and forearm into Rab'k's back. Rab'k fell forward, catching his fall by reaching out and grabbing the column.
He felt a violent surge pass through his body. He instantly realized he had more strength than before.
"Come, boy. Let's engage and stop this dallying," Rab'k snarled at Pet'r, beckoning him to attack.
"There may be many more days we must do this. I am in no hurry,” Pet’r answered, his eyes flaring and a white aura circling around him.
"Let us see!" Rab'k blared out, rushing the other with blurring speed; a black shimmer surrounded him as though a shadow passed around the man. They smashed together. The new magic shields protecting them, sliding away from each and quickly turned to the attack again.
Geth'n floated down from above Voravia and just behind her. She was moving slowly toward the column, trying to find Geth'n but avoiding the great brawl Rab'k and Pet'r were having.
Anisah still lay where she had fallen.
Voravia turned to look at her there and noticed movement behind her. She whirled about and came face to face with this new and imposing adversary.
He's only a boy, only a boy!
Geth'n bowed to her, a mocking expression on his face. "It seems some things have changed," he spoke to her almost slyly, reached out his hand slowly, so slowly it seemed to Voravia she could move away, but she couldn't. He touched her almost gently and she dropped to her knees with the pain surging through her body.
"You must not continue this. You will destroy our world," Geth'n spoke to her, staring directly into her eyes. "I cannot allow that to happen."
"You can't stop it now, fool!" she spat back at him, jerked herself upright, stood and backed away several paces.
She felt her energy returning and prepared to destroy this idiot when Anisah stepped between them.
"No, please. This must stop. We need to try to heal the wounds of the land, not create them. Please, both of you stop!" Anisah pleaded, looking from one to the other, separating them with her supplications.
"There is no resolution, only death to this world!" Voravia stepped further back, bumping against the column as she did.
She reacted to the touch; her face began to glow with the changes in her power. She raised her face to the sky as though in passion, closing her eyes in her sense of power. She dropped her gaze back to the girl.
"And, you, my niece, shall be a means to the destruction!"
She leaped sideways swiftly, clearing a way to attack Geth'n without harming the girl, flashed a bolt toward him. Anisah stepped into the path of the flash, staggered from the impact, stood stunned for a moment, then shook her head, and smiled.
"Maybe, aunt, I will be able to make my own choices about the outcome of this whole affair," she retorted, defiance in her eyes as she glared at the other woman.
"When the time comes, young lady, you will not be able to resist the strength of our obsession!" Voravia shouted back at her, but was truly surprised the girl withstood the attack.
"And I say I will not!" Anisah shouted back.
Geth'n stepped forward, pushing Anisah behind him. "There will be an end, an end for the good. You and yours will not be able to overcome," he spoke to Voravia.
He had no desire to destroy this woman though he knew instinctively he might be making a mistake. Pet'r grabbed Rab'k, whirled quickly, sending the man twirling across the floor and into the column again. He followed with a great rush to end the fight. Rab'k stood until the last moment, and then stepped aside suddenly. Pet'r was unprepared for the movement, rushed headlong, and crashed into the column.
Suddenly, the clouds above stilled; suffocation of sound and movement enveloped the space surrounding the column. A great plume reached downward from the sky toward the black crystal resting atop the column, as though drawn into a fissure. A great rushing sound hummed through the stillness; a sound increasing to a crescendo heard around the globe. As the skies folded inward, a vast shudder passed through the column. Then a flash of light –- both dark and white –- spread outward and into the sky above them.
Then nothing. With a silent departure, the plateau emptied.
The black crystal and all of those who participated in the first battle in a long war, only now declared, vanished.
The End
NEXT INSTALLMENT
THE YOUNG SHALL ENDURE
The Aerolan Saga: Book 2
(Now Available – September, 2012)
Anisah, Geth'n and Pet'r begin to sense, and use, their own powers as more and more problems occur around them.
Geth'n discovers a new friend. Anisah and Pet'r still worry about their relationship.
The town of Roahan becomes the focal area for the young defenders, and their allies.
Sadness enters the fray with early, and serious losses, for them. Pet'r is injured, some questions about immortality answered.
THE AUTHORS
Both authors have tried to work and become authors, but then a great number of people have done that. And, of course, we now know how difficult that is. It's taken us over 10 years to get this all together and time has indeed marched along during those years.
Larry is a transplanted Floridian having lived here for about 25 years. He
owned a bookstore in the 1980's and then traveled around the country as a computer (Unix) software consultant.- still calling Florida “home”.
He got to see a lot of this beautiful country, but always thought of Florida as his home.
Jennifer is “native born” Floridian having lived here almost all her life. Well, there are some minor exceptions, but mostly she loves her home and long ago decided she'd just as soon stay here.
I asked her – “over 10 years ago” - if she'd like to help with “growing this book”, and she jumped right in.
Both of us did a bit then, and put in another effort later, until it all came together. The typing was the worst – it takes a heck of a long time to type a 300-400 page book.
We're proud of our efforts and hope you enjoy the result.
Thanks for coming by.
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