The Genisters were devastated. Even Thaster looked out of sorts. He’d never leave Hell now. Thellis lifted Slate’s crumpled body up into his arms and flew him back to Surpen so Ceceta could comfort him. As he entered the palace, he found the tigers howling in grief. Rhen’s children lay on the floor, crying unconsolably. Thellis felt like doing the same, but he would wait until he was home. Home, he thought. This was now home. He would never leave. He felt like vomiting and crying at the same time as he handed Slate’s body to Charlie, who looked worse than he did.
***
Bosternd cornered Slate by the door to Surpen’s military headquarters. Slate had been drunk every day since his father’s death. Bosternd knew the boy well enough to know that something else was going on. He was sure Ceceta would want him to take care of her children, since she was incapable of doing it herself. She hadn’t left her bedroom since the incident. “Okay, what is it?”
Slate glanced up at Bosternd with red eyes. He’d seen his dad’s Surpen Beast of War in the field and had started to cry. “Go away.”
Bosternd grabbed Slate’s arm. “Tell me.” Slate shook his head. “Tell me, damn it. I have a right to know. If something is affecting you, it affects all of us. You’re Surpen’s Emperor now. What’s going on?”
Slate wiped at his eyes with his free arm. “It was all my fault,” he told Bosternd softly. “He wouldn’t have been in that room if I hadn’t been in trouble. He wouldn’t have realized he was Themrock if it wasn’t for me.”
Bosternd relaxed his grip. “He was going to figure it out eventually, Slate. You aren’t to blame. It’s not your fault he learned his identity. Layla and Therol tricked him. You had nothing to do with it.”
Slate disagreed. “You don’t understand. It was my fault. He was without his Neptian tigers because of me. Therol succeeded because of me. I should’ve found a way to save him.”
Bosternd shook his head. “No one could have saved him. If they’d tried, they would have been pulled into the TUB right along with him.”
“No!” Slate screamed. “We could have saved him. We could have. I hate the Genisters. I hate them.” Slate shoved Bosternd aside and marched off towards the city.
“Don’t worry.”
Bosternd glanced up to find Thellis hovering beside him. “The oracles have predicted that he will make a fine ruler, once he comes to terms with his grief. You will be proud of him.”
“I pray you’re right,” Bosternd whispered, as Thellis flew off after Slate. “And I pray that Ceceta will recover from her broken heart.”
Twenty Years Later
Epilogue
Slate’s Office – Surpen Palace
“Slate!” Thestran’s current ruler, Katharine, yelled into the monitor on her desk. “We need you to move that spacehole today. My spies have informed me that the Rasacks are looking to invade System 12. If they do, they’ll come at us via the hole. You know we can’t defend ourselves against them that way.”
“Yes, yes, I’ll get to it today.” Slate was tired of the wars. Ever since his dad had died, the Convention members had been attacking them relentlessly. He reached out for some battle plans that Jet had placed on his desk. “I’m getting your plans now. I’ll move the spacehole as soon as we disconnect.”
“Good.” Katharine, leaned back in her chair, adding, “Sorry, I yelled. I’m just tense.”
“No problem,” Slate said, closing his eyes to rub them. “We all are.”
He rose, after Katharine had disconnected, and turned to Jet. “Is there anything else?”
Jet hesitated. Something about the way Slate was standing had reminded him of Rhen. The two of them looked identical. When Slate crossed his arms over his chest, Jet said, “I need you to sign the approval to move the third-wing strike force back to Ponto.”
Slate nodded and leaned down to sign the papers Jet had handed him. The Zorthans had cracked their computer codes, so they were back to using paper as a way to communicate. “Are you going back to the field, after you deliver this to Katharine?”
“Can’t wait,” Jet said with a smile. He preferred to be in the field. Most Surpens did. Jet was only here today because Katharine needed someone she could trust to deliver the newest plans to Slate.
Once Jet had left, Slate flew out to Solar System 3. He paused by Ventar as he searched for the spacehole. Where was that pesky circle? He jumped from moon to moon then spotted the spacehole’s bubble opening. “There you are,” he murmured to himself, as his hands began to glow light blue. “Time for a change in scenery.” He threw his powers at the spacehole, snipping it like a surgeon from Systems 3 and 12 instantaneously.
Once he was done, he had a problem. Where should he put it? He didn’t want to connect any other systems if he didn’t have to.
Some broken pieces of spacejet floated past him towards the TUB forcing Slate to step out of their way. The TUB tended to pull all of their garbage into it, keeping the Universe clean.
“Of course,” Slate said. He flew towards the TUB and used his powers to toss the spacehole into its blackness. It wouldn’t bother anyone now. Turning, he phased home. He had a mountain of work to do.
The light blue powers that Slate had used to contain the spacehole were just blinking out as it slid into the TUB. At the very moment when the TUB claimed possession of it, a fuzzy, rectangular shape slipped out of the end of the spacehole into Universe One.
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading The Surpen King: Part 2 – Rise of the Elves. I hope you enjoyed it.
Would you kindly take a moment to leave a review about this book on Amazon.com or Goodreads.com so that others will learn about Themrock and his world?
Thank you,
Charity
Acknowledgements
Without the support and guidance of my family – Steve, Jack, Reid and Aaron – this book never would have been written. I started this series back in 2007 and would have left it on my computer forever if my family hadn’t encouraged me to take the next step and publish it. I’m so glad that I followed their advice. Thank you!
Thank you to my beta readers: Nina Bertolino and Maryanne D’Amato. Your support was invaluable.
Thank you to my editor, Alexa Salvato, for her amazing eye for detail.
Thank you to Tatiana at Viladesign.net for another awesome book cover.
And finally, thank you to you, my readers, who make this whole journey worth the effort.
About The Author
Charity W. Kelly is the author of the Themrock series, in which The Surpen King – Part Two: Rise of the Elves is the third book. She is a science fiction and fantasy fan as well as a writer. She lives in Katonah, New York with her husband and three sons.
You can find Charity on Goodreads at www.tinyurl.com/charitywk or visit her website at www.charitywkelly.com
The Surpen King - Part 2 - Rise of the Elves Page 53