by D L Colon
“What is the message Mr. King?”
“These are the words; ‘War is coming my brothers so train your bodies, minds and powers. You will be tested to your limits, no matter how strong you think you are. Expect the unexpected and don’t lose faith in yourself. I will be close and I will help when you need it. Know that I believe in all of you.’ Please let me know once you give them my message. I will be waiting for your call.”
“Got it, Mr. King. I will let you know, Dana out.”
When Noryad hears the click signaling the end of the conversation he takes off his ear piece and notices that it is late. He gets a shower and heads to bed, but once sleep finds him his mind replays the scene he witnessed this morning with Coral.
Chapter 18
It has been two days since the incident with Coral and Noryad has been evading her because he doesn’t think he can face her without snapping at her. He has been training with Merlin from morning till night, pushing himself past his limits. He has advanced in his training, Merlin has taught him how to block the call of the sword and he has been doing it so he can get some rest at night. He has also been getting notes warning him to stay away from Coral. He knows that sooner or later the one sending the notes will want to see him, and fight him.
Noryad is dreaming, but for some reason it doesn’t feel like a dream. In front of him is his Father, Trez. He is looking at him with a calm, yet serious, expression. “My son, I am here to train you.”
“But how are you here and why? You are dead.”
Trez smiles as he answers Noryad, “Yes my son, I am dead, but remember that I told you that once you touched the gate you would gain my knowledge. I never said how, so here I am. Once I do this my magic will disperse and then I will be completely gone. Let us start, my son.”
Trez starts showing Noryad the warding he needs to learn, what he should and shouldn’t do when adding wards. He tells him about blood magic and that it is to not be tried. That once you use it, you will always use it and you will force the soul to do your will. “They have to willingly serve you so you can send the souls to rest, if they desire. That is all for now, my son. It is time to wake up.” Noryad closes his eyes and when he opens them he is in his bed and it is already morning.
Noryad gets up from bed and goes to the bathroom. After he relieves himself he brushes his teeth and washes his face. As he’s walking out he hears Dana’s voice coming from his earpiece; it has been done, Mr. King.
He snatches it off the table and answers; thank you Doctor, for giving them my warning.
When he is finished he gets dressed and heads to the door. Once there he sees that there’s another note. Tonight. Midnight. At the Church is all it says. He rips it from the door and burns it in his hands with his powers. Determined to find and destroy whomever is leaving these notes he jerks his door open and almost walks into Nohar, who is standing just outside his door waiting for him.
Nohar looks at him with a troubled expression, “May I have a word, my King?”
Noryad motions for Nohar to walk beside him and asks, “What troubles you, Nohar?”
“My King, the soul of my wife has gone missing.”
Noryad stops abruptly and looks at him. “Why didn’t you tell me this before now? How long has it been since this happen?”
Nohar lower his head, not making eye contact with Noryad. “It has been a few days since this happened, Milord. Before you say anything, Milord, I tried approaching two days ago, but you brushed me off so I left you alone because you didn’t want to be disturbed.”
Noryad curses viciously, angry with himself for brushing off Nohar. “Call everyone to the Throne Room. I have to talk to everyone at once. Please make sure you let Coral and Merlin know what I am doing.”
Nohar bows slightly, says “yes Milord” and disappears.
Noryad is in the Throne Room seated on the throne as the souls of the dead start to appear. Merlin and Coral walk in and once he sees Coral she fixes her eyes on him and he feels an overwhelming loneliness surge to the surface, but he hides it quickly before she can notice it.
He stands up, looks around and says, “As you know, I have called you here for a reason and that reason is that some of you have lost a family member who always seems to be with you.” At his words some of the souls look at each other and others are nodding their agreement. Some of them are talking at the same time, but Noryad lifts his hand, silencing the room, and continues, “I have to ask why none of you came to me about it? Did any of you know that my mother, Queen Urlah, has been capture and so has Nohar’s wife, Liand?”
The room erupts in noise again as everyone starts talking at once. Merlin hides his emotions and Coral is shocked at the news. Noryad, irritated at the interruption and lack of order yells, “SILENCE!” and everyone in the room goes instantly quiet. Noryad’s body is releasing power and no one in the room wants to be on the receiving end of that power.
Noryad takes a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself and regain control before he continues speaking, “All of those who have the soul of a loved one missing, please feel free to stay while we figure out how to rescue them. The rest of you may leave if you wish, but you may also stay. For those who have a loved one missing I need to know the name of the one missing and when they were last seen.”
None of the souls leave, instead they move to the sides of the room, leaving an open aisle down the middle of the room for whomever was going to talk to him. Noryad smiles at the support shown by the souls for one another and says, “Is there anyone who wants to start?”
From the back of the room someone speaks up, “I do.”
Noryad lifts his eyes to see who spoke and locks eyes with his Father, in all his royal glory, walking toward him.
Chapter 19
Noryad is quite shocked that his father chose to remain behind. He is even more shocked when he reaches him and kneels in front of him. The souls of the dead do the same, in respect to both of them. Trez remains in his kneeling position as he starts to speak. “Milord,” he says before rising to his feet and looking at Noryad with pride. “You have grown my son. It seems you have opened the gates I blocked. I assume you have been seeing me…well, the remnant of my power, at night and I have been passing my knowledge to you.”
“I have, father. It’s good to really see you in front of me, even if it’s just your soul.” Noryad uses his power and makes Trez’s ethereal form more solid and he embraces him in a strong, not so manly, hug.
Trez returns the hug for a moment before he breaks the embrace as he says, “Son, you already know that your mother has been captured. I don’t know how the news got to you, but we need to find her. All of us who have the power to fight will serve you until our time to rest is upon us. Many of us have lost someone we want to see return and I want to see my wife, your mother, back with us as soon as possible.
“I will bring them back, father. Not only mother, but the rest, too.
Trez turns around to leave, but looks back to ask, “Did you know that you can use your necromancy powers to search for, and locate, souls you are searching for if they are still on this plain?” Then he turns around and disappears as the petitions start to come in.
Noryad hasn’t been able to completely pay attention to the petitions, but he has made sure to fulfill them all. Some were simply that the soul wanted to go and rest in the hands of the Angel of Afterlife and he has fulfilled those. Some souls wanted to see if a loved one remained here. Others have wanted to stand by his side and fight and he has given them the power to make their ethereal form more solid by simply fortifying their will. Others wanted to know if their partner cheated on them in life. He is disgusted with these petitions, considering the problems they bring, but he fulfills them.
There have been over forty petitions confirmed that the souls have been captured, but he has been unable to locate them. He has taken over a hundred petitions and is getting really tired from using his powers. He is pushing himself too hard, especially since he hasn�
��t gained the complete control over his power he needs in order to fully use it.
He is also concerned about what his father told him in his dreams. Could he be the King of the Dead? He doesn’t know what that means and he knows he will have to ask Coral, but he doesn’t want to, considering what happened. Despite that, she has been trying to approach him to talk to him, but he hasn’t given her a chance to talk. He continues walking away from her, as hurt and betrayal eats at him.
While he’s lost in thought Coral walks toward him, concern shining from her aqua-colored eyes. She stops in front of him and she turns to face the crowd of souls still gathered around, seeking their King’s guidance. “Everyone, thank you for your patience, but your King needs to rest. Please leave now so he can go to his room. He will resume accepting petitions after he is rested.”
The soul in front of Coral starts to say something, but Coral looks her in the eyes, “Do you really want to defy a Goddess? Are you sure you can face me?”
The soul lowers her head. “I am sorry, my King,” she responds, addressing Noryad, “It’s just that my daughter was captured and I wanted to make sure I let you know.”
Noryad sits up a little straighter and looks at the soul, “What is your daughter’s name? I will look for her.”
“Her name is Irrony, Milord.”
Noryad closes his eyes and releases his body, diving into the sea of souls that remain. Some try to approach him, but he sets up a barrier around his physical body, and his ethereal body, so no one can try to take it. Once he finds the soul of the child he notices immediately how scared she is by his approach. He stops moving and says to her; do not be afraid. I am your King and I was sent to look for you. The soul approaches him and with his ethereal body he brings her closer to him as he says; you’re safe now Irrony. I will protect you.
Once the girl comes in contact with his body his powers react and he sees what her life was like. He sees that the person looking for her is her mother, but she treated her badly and abused her and is forcing her to be captured. Noryad is furious, but decides to bring the girl back with him. Before he returns he says to her; stay with me in the circle. I’ll let you know when to come out.
Yes Milord, Irrony responds and Noryad returns to his body. The souls are still in the Throne Room and the mother of Irrony is watching him, waiting for him to say something. Noryad opens his eyes and looks at the soul in front of him, “You dare to lie to your King?”
All the souls in the room murmur their surprise, while the soul of Irrony’s mother is shocked at his words. She focuses her attention to his right, not making eye contact, as she answers, “I don’t know what you are talking about your majesty.”
Noryad uses his powers to make her face him and she sees that Irrony is inside the barrier. She chuckles aloud as she says, “You are going to believe the lies of a little girl over an adult?”
Noryad roars in anger, “If you dare to lie to me one more time you will face the consequences!”
She looks at Noryad and smirks a little, “So what? She’s my daughter and I can do whatever I want with her.”
Anger surges through Noryad and his eyes turn completely blue, while white mist emits from the corner of each one of them. He looks at her, not bothering to control his temper, and says, “I, Noryad King, King of Death and those who serve under me, curse you to walk the earth for the rest of eternity. No necromancer will ever help you. Your curse will continue even after my death. You are banished from my Kingdom.” As soon as the words left his mouth the soul starts screaming as an invisible force takes her out of the Kingdom.
Once she is gone Noryad struggles to calm down and is in complete control of his powers before turning to Irrony. “You are safe here, Irrony.”
When he locks eyes with Coral he sees the shock, surprise and fear in her eyes and hears her quietly whisper, “You are the one.”
Chapter 20
Noryad takes a second to process Coral’s words before he responds, “Yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are engaged to someone else.” When he turns around to leave he says to Merlin, “I will see you tomorrow morning for our training. I am sorry that this interrupted us today.”
“No Noryad, you have started to develop your powers on your own and you don’t need the church’s protection anymore. The warding was only to help you process everything and that is no longer needed. We can take your training to battle magic so I will see you tomorrow at the church.”
Noryad nods and heads to his room, leaving Merlin and Coral alone in the Throne Room. Coral, feeling rejected, asks, “Why, Merlin? Why does he give me this cold treatment?”
“I am sorry, my girl. You may be over six hundred years old, but you are not prepared to face someone such as Noryad. You made a big mistake by not telling him that you were engaged. He was born to lead and since he is a King he doesn’t forgive easily. There are many aspects of him I have yet to see. We have seen the calm, composed King, but we haven’t seen the necromancer nor the telepathic and the seer. We haven’t seen him lose control while actually being in control.”
“But what about what happened on the beach?”
Merlin smiles, “He was not actually in control when he lost it then. I am referring to that which he holds back. Even when you touched him and you were thrown back, he reduced the injuries you could have sustained by not hitting you with his full power. If he had wanted to destroy the soul of Diana, the one we saw earlier, he could have. He was mad, but that was a normal anger, not the rage induced anger of the King of Death. You may have found your fated mate, but he hasn’t found his mate in you. Prophecy foretold that you would find your mate in the King of Death, but he doesn’t know who his mate is, and that’s something you need to consider child. I am a lot older than you and I know that what is approaching him is a long road and sooner or later someone will take your place. He is destined for greatness, not to remain with us here, but what makes him different than the others who have held the role of the King of Death is he knows his flaws. He knows what he lacks, he is humble, and most of all, he doesn’t forget where he came from and what price he paid for it. Those before him did what they wanted for the power. They bent souls to their will, used blood magic, inspired fear in everyone so they would never oppose them, but they died at the hands of those they never thought would kill them, their friends. If you inspire fear sooner or later someone will take you out and repair the damage you did. So Coral, tell me what you know about Noryad that makes him different from the rest?”
Coral takes a deep breath and processes what Merlin told her before she answers, “He is just, calm, caring and humble. He fights for those he loves and he is a one of a kind man. Noryad is the kind of guy that won’t force you to do his will, he will win you over with his charm and understanding, just like he did with Irrony. He inspires trust, loyalty and commitment. He doesn’t like to see anyone hurt and is always ready to fight for his cause.”
Merlin smiles sadly at Coral, “You are totally right child, but he holds a bigger burden than the rest of us. The lives of millions depend on him and he is alone in this. In his eyes you can see how deep his loneliness is. He hides his feelings behind his King face, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Every King has to be strong, despite how they feel.”
“I am sorry. I never wanted to hurt him in any way. I don’t love Albert, but he continued to approach me with the idea of a marriage of convenience that would help us both even if we didn’t love each other. Since I could not find my mate I gave in in order to protect my throne, but I set the rule that if I found my fated mate the engagement was off and now that I have found him I have pushed him away for good.”
Merlin wraps her in a hug, causing her to cry harder. Trez, who has been listening to the conversation as he waited to talk to Coral, decides that he needs to talk to his son. He disappears without either of them knowing he was even there.
When he appears at Noryad’s side he finds him lost in a sea of deep thoughts. �
�A penny for your thoughts, son?” He asks, snapping Noryad from the thoughts consuming him. Noryad smiles at him and motions for him to walk with him, “We need to talk, son.”
“That we do,” Noryad answers. “I have a few things I wanted to ask about.”
“I will answer all your questions, but what I have to talk to you about is more important at this point.”
Noryad’s expression turns serious at his father’s words, “What happened?”
Trez looks at his son for a moment before answering, “It’s about Coral.”
Chapter 21
Noryad shifts his position, instantly ready to run and protect her. He looks at his father and realizes, too late, that his emotions have gotten out of control. Trying to hide his worry, he asks, “What happened to Coral? Is something wrong with her?”
Trez smiles at Noryad’s obvious uncomfortableness as he answers, “Nothing has happened to her and there is nothing wrong with her, at least not physically, but you need to talk to her son. She is quite devastated by how you have been treating her and you both need to talk about what happened.”
“Father, I respect you but I don’t like being lied to. She did something I cannot easily forgive.”
“All I am asking, my son, is that you sit and talk to her. Hear her side of the story. There are always two sides to a story. You know Albert’s side because he forced it upon you, but you need to know Coral’s side so you can see the whole story.” With that said Trez disappears, leaving Noryad lost within his own thoughts again.