“No, nothing. I have searched my memories and there is nothing there, just a strange compulsion to do what I did. I can’t explain it,” replied Malcon, looking deeply into Lynol’s light blue eyes.
Lynol sighed, leaning back in her chair and gazing at Malcon. She had hoped that he would remember once he knew what had happened.
“When the sleepers finally wake they will have access to most of their equipment and advanced technology,” Lynol spoke wistfully, wishing she could be there to see that wondrous day.
“The people in our villages, along with the sleepers, can rebuild our world and establish a new Golden Age rather quickly,” continued Lynol, knowing that her descendants might be there, hoping that they would be. “Perhaps even the type of world that Jason Sylvar had envisioned so long ago. The type of world my mother had hoped to eventually live in before Adam brought down the Worldfire.”
“But first we have to stop Gilmreth and find this Adam Grayson your mother mentions,” Malcon replied, his face creasing slightly which was normal when he was deep in thought. “Strange that we haven’t heard anything about another sorcerer, particularly of the power your mother says this Grayson possesses. If she couldn’t find him with the abilities she possessed, we may also have a very difficult time.”
“Mother thought there was a slight chance he may have returned to stasis,” Lynol said thoughtfully, glancing down at the diary. “He obviously had a stasis chamber hidden somewhere within the mountain. Perhaps he didn’t like our world and went back to sleep hoping for better times.”
“Perhaps,” the simulacrum replied doubtfully, looking at his beautiful young student. “But if he is as intelligent as your mother’s diary suggests, he would know that our population has been decreasing for generations. If he was to sleep too long, there may be no one left for him to rule when he awakes a second time. No, he must be awake. This may very well explain everything that has been going on in Draydon and why it is occurring now. We must proceed cautiously as your mother suggests.”
Lynol let out a deep breath; she knew Malcon was probably right. She thumbed through her mother’s diary, reading a few excerpts, hoping to find something that would help give them a clue as to Adam’s whereabouts and possibly how to defeat Gilmreth. She felt like a tremendous weight rested upon her shoulders. If they failed to find a way to destroy Gilmreth, there was a good chance that when the sleepers awoke in another two hundred years there would be no one left alive to greet them other than the dragon!
From her mother’s diary Lynol knew that Adam would be very good at subterfuge and getting others to do his bidding. With Jalene making an appearance and the awakening of Gilmreth, Lynol knew in her heart that this Adam Grayson was behind it. It would explain so much. He had to be staying in the shadows lest he be discovered before his plans were completed, whatever they might be. She glanced down at the diary in front of her.
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Page 1
I have decided to keep a diary. I just turned fourteen today, and the other kids threw me a surprise birthday party! Our studies continue to take up most of our time. The adults keep us very busy, constantly testing us and having us work on mastering our growing abilities. Very seldom do we leave the complex. Even then we are under extremely close supervision. We are not allowed to use our powers outside the mountain. The outside world must not learn of our special powers and abilities until we are ready to show them the good we can do.
My birthday party was really fun; I even had a huge cake with candles! There are over six hundred of us, after all! Of course, only those in my own age group were at the party, but that was still over sixty kids plus all the adults that were supervising us. I was given this diary as a present, and I plan to write in it every chance I get!
Jason Sylvar even came by to say hello today. He is very impressed with my progress and other than Adam, says I am by far the most advanced in our entire section! Jason says that considering my age, I am far ahead of what the scientists expected. He seems to be very pleased. Adam is far ahead of the rest of us and is three years older than I am. He is in one of the other dorms, and I only see him during our training sessions. He is very powerful!
Jason is our leader and is in charge of the underground complex. He is so strong and kind and extremely handsome! Everyone says that Jason believes that we can solve many of the world’s expanding problems when we come of age. I can hardly wait!
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Page 170
Adam and Jason had an argument in the training facility today; it was horrible! We were practicing our sorcery and Adam and several of his cronies were picking on some of the weaker younger children. Jason intervened, telling them to stop. Adam turned and told Jason that he couldn’t tell him what to do anymore. Jason’s hand went to his dark blue amulet and Adam relented. I could tell that Jason was extremely angry with Adam. Jason’s amulet is very strong and Adam’s afraid of it. We all have amulets, but it will be years before they are as powerful as Jason’s. He is the oldest sorcerer and was born with his abilities, a true genetic mutation from what the scientists say. I am very worried about Adam. I wish he would leave the younger children alone. Sometimes he even frightens me with some of his antics.
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Page 220
I turned eighteen today! Jason took all the advanced students to see the dragons. They are so beautiful and friendly. They’re truly a wondrous creation. Jason says the scientists designed the dragons as an experiment to see if it could be done. It’s hard to believe that our scientists have the ability to create a new creature that has never existed before.
The oldest dragon is a white one called Snowden. He is a gorgeous creature and seems very friendly. The dragon even allowed me to touch his forehead. It was almost as if he could sense that I would never harm him. I think Snowden and I are going to be great friends! Jason says the dragons have the potential to be highly intelligent, but right now they are very childish.
I asked Jason about Snowden. He seemed surprised at how interested I was in Snowden and suggested that I spend some time with the dragon each day. Even though the dragons are very large, they are also extremely gentle. Jason is interested to see how the dragon reacts to me over an extended period of time.
Adam was with us today, and he looked at the dragons so strangely it was almost frightening. Adam’s really starting to worry me. He leaves me alone most of the time; after all, my powers are nearly as strong as his now. I have the impression that Adam doesn’t like that. He wants to dominate everything and doesn’t like it when I outdo him in one of our exercises.
Whenever Adam is around, I've been watching over the younger children. He leaves them alone when he knows that I’m nearby. I don’t know if he is actually afraid of me or that I will report any abusive behavior of his to Jason.
He and his cronies have been spending a lot of time together when we are not studying. I fear they are up to something. I wonder if I should speak to Jason about my fears. He has so much on his mind recently that I hate to bother him with my suspicions.
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Page 280
Disaster has struck! Adam and his diabolical friends have seized control of part of the complex. They now control the dragons and hold some of the scientist’s captive. He’s issued an ultimatum to the government demanding that they recognize his rule of the complex and allow him to set up an autonomous state around the mountain governed by him. He has to be crazy to pull a fool stunt like this. The government will never tolerate his demands!
Adam believes that with our powers we are better suited to decide our own destiny. He doesn’t want the government involved anymore. He thinks they will use our powers for their own sinister purposes. I think he’s gone mad! His power has driven him over the brink of sanity. Surely Adam will be stopped before this goes any further!
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Page 285
Jason and some of us tried using our combined powers to breach the part of the complex Adam has seized. He managed to activate a security devi
ce that neutralizes our powers in that section. The device was supposed to be top secret. The scientists constructed it at the insistence of the government in order for our funding to be maintained. This is disheartening news. Even our own government must fear us! It is directional, and Adam is keeping it focused on an area of the complex that we must pass through to reach him and his followers. We can neither reach him nor escape the complex. He has us sealed in!
Adam has placed heavily armed guards at all the entrances to his section of the complex. Most of the base’s military personnel have sided with him. I wonder if Adam has found some way to use his powers to control people’s minds. I hope not, for that would be horrifying. We can’t retake the complex without heavy casualties. We’re considering our options.
Jason fears that Adam’s group could adversely affect the dragons; they are so trusting, young, and innocent! Jason is concerned about the new dragon named Gilmreth. Something went disastrously wrong when the dragon was created and the scientists have been thinking about destroying him. Jason says that Gilmreth might be mentally unstable. I know that Adam has taken an interest in this new dragon. I noticed him at Gilmreth’s pen nearly every time I went to see Snowden. I am extremely worried about Snowden. I visit the white dragon daily. I so fear for my friend. What are we going to do?
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Page 290
One of the brilliant captured scientists that Adam controls has created a new ruby red crystal amulet. Jason says the scientist Loraine has been working on a method to amplify our powers using these new experimental crystals. Adam’s group has been focusing their power into this new crystal and threatening to use it against the government if they don’t give in immediately to his demands. Jason has pleaded with Adam to return control of the complex back to him before it’s too late, but he has refused to comply.
Jason says that some people in the government have always been concerned about what was going on in this complex. He’s afraid the government, under pressure from these elements, might overreact to Adam’s threats. Jason feels it’s imperative we find a way to retake the complex before the government does something rash. He knows that Adam is extremely naïve about the workings of the government because he has spent most of his life here inside the mountain. Adam can have no idea about the frightful repercussions his demands could cause.
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Page 310
It’s horrible. Disaster has struck us! The government attacked the complex without warning today with tactical nuclear weapons. Adam is furious! Jason can’t believe the government could have been so foolish. They seriously underestimated the power of Adam’s group and the strength of this underground complex. The complex’s defenses are so powerful that it was hardly damaged during the brief attack.
But that’s not the worst of it! Adam used his group’s powers, focused through Loraine’s crystal, to seize control of the guidance systems of several incoming missiles. He diverted them, causing them to fall upon two nearby cities as an abject lesson to the government. The casualties in the cities must be tremendous! Jason has gone to his quarters in shock. He believed that given enough time, he could have reasoned with Adam or even retaken the complex without bloodshed. Jason’s wonderful dreams for our future have come crashing down. He is devastated by this corrupt and deadly use of our power. The government will never forgive us for what Adam has done! What will happen to us now? I don’t know what we shall do!
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Page 330
It’s Armageddon! The whole world has fallen into war! Nuclear weapons are going off all over the globe. What has Adam done? We wanted only good to come from our special abilities.
Our government had to reveal to the United Nations the secret of our underground complex after their failed use of tactical nuclear weapons. The other countries were outraged and frightened at the research being done here. They feared what we could potentially do with our powers when they are fully developed. The other world governments demanded that our facility either surrender or that our government retake the complex no matter what the cost. However, due to the disastrous results of the last attempt, the American government delayed taking military action. They didn’t want to lose any more cities!
When no action was taken, the other countries launched their own nuclear weapons from space based missile platforms at our complex. They must have really been afraid of us. Who can blame them after what Adam did in the original attack when he diverted the missiles into populated cities. When he detected the new attack, he caused many of the missiles to be deflected. They fell upon helpless cities all over the country. There were so many missiles coming toward our mountain that all Adam’s group could do was to divert them away from us.
Our own government retaliated against the countries that had launched the preemptive strike, not realizing until too late that the deadly missile strikes had been aimed at our complex and not the entire country. They didn’t realize Adam had deflected the missiles. I fear that billions of people are dying because of Adam’s uncontrolled lust for power. Now the world lies in ruins!
Jason has called an emergency meeting for tonight. He has a plan to try to regain control of the complex from Adam, regardless of the cost to us. Jason had hoped to settle this peacefully. He never foresaw the attack by the other governments and the massive devastation it has caused. This may be the last time I see many of my closest friends. No matter what we decide, many of us will probably die!
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Page 335
We have control of the complex! Many of us are dead or seriously wounded. Jason fears that nearly sixty percent of the people in the complex have been killed in the terrible fighting today. Many of those that died were sorcerers and military. Out of nearly four hundred of us that supported Jason, barely two hundred of us are still alive. We couldn’t have succeeded except Jason and I managed to use the dragons as a diversion.
We got into their minds, causing them to attack Adam’s group. This took Adam and his followers completely by surprise. We couldn’t have done this if not for all the time I spent with Snowden. It was easy for me to mind link with my white dragon, and then Jason did the rest. We used the dragons to destroy the machine that was keeping us from using our powers in Adam’s section of the complex. Jason says the dragons will have to be destroyed. Their minds have been driven irreversibly unstable by the horrors they were forced to commit! I feel heartbroken knowing that Snowden has also been affected. He didn’t even seem to recognize me today. The white dragon and I had become extremely close.
We have lost so many friends. It seems like I have been crying for hours! Jason has tried to contact the government to let them know the complex has been retaken, but no one acknowledges. Our long-range sensors still show nuclear weapons exploding everywhere! Already the local atmosphere is showing a discouraging increase in radiation levels.
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Page 350
Jason plans to put most of us into deep sleep. We will awaken in thirty two hundred years. He estimates that it will take that long for the radiation to disperse and the biosphere to fully recover. We have tried for many days to contact other survivors or governments, but have been met with only silence. No organized government survives anywhere. There may be isolated pockets of survivors outside the complex, but the radio frequencies are silent. The few satellites we can communicate with show a poisoned and devastated world.
Adam hasn’t been found! Jason fears that Adam may have put himself to sleep somewhere beneath the mountain. A few of his staunchest followers are also missing. Jason doesn’t know if they have joined Adam or fled the mountain. We have also banished to the outside world those of Adam’s supporters too dangerous to be allowed to remain inside the complex. Whether they can survive outside the complex with the high radiation levels is not known. We furnished them with minimal survival gear and some anti radiation drugs.
It will take us several months to finish constructing the many stasis chambers we will need to survive our long sleep. We are setting
up a stasis field that will protect the main part of our complex during our hibernation. When we finally awake, we should have most of our complex available to support us. Our power source is geothermal and should be able to furnish us with all the power that we need.
Jason and a few others will remain awake to monitor our stasis chambers. They may join us in deep sleep later. He told me that he plans to stay awake to monitor the outside world. I think Jason feels responsible for what has happened. He spends hours listening to the silent radio waves, hoping for survivors.
I have been chosen for a dubious task. I may have to face Adam someday. Jason has set sensors throughout the complex to wake me if Adam is ever detected. I am now the most powerful sorcerer in our group; even more powerful than Jason! I am astonished at some of the things that I am now able to do. During the struggle with Adam, my abilities seemed to have blossomed. If only I had been this strong before, things might have been different!
Loraine has also created a new blue crystal, which Jason has entrusted to me. It has the potential to be much more powerful than the red crystal she created for Adam. With the new one, I should be able to defeat Adam if he appears. He no longer has Loraine’s red crystal; it has been sealed in the main vault. It has been corrupted from Adam’s use, its intricate crystalline structure destabilized. It will be centuries before it returns to normal. I hope Adam doesn’t cause me to awaken early. I so wish to wake with my friends thirty two hundred years from now!
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Page 385
Adam is awake! The complex’s computer woke me this morning. I watched him on the sensors, but he stayed in the outer perimeter of the complex as if he was searching for something. Who knows how long he has been awake; possibly years! He looks much older on the sensors than when I last saw him. Much of the perimeter has deteriorated, and some of the weaker stasis fields have failed! We only put the main installation under heavy stasis protection. I thought about trying to wake some of the others, but Adam is my responsibility. He must not become aware of the other sleepers. If he does, there is no doubt in my mind that he would do everything in his power to try to regain control of the complex and those that still sleep within it. He must never learn what is hidden beneath the mountain! I must face Adam alone!
Gilmreth the Awakening Page 34