Fearing for her daughter, Amanda poured her love through the samara’s link, fighting for her daughter’s life. Letting instinct take over, Amanda felt more power than she had ever known flow through her as she battled the powerful Empress for her daughter’s soul.
The Empress screamed with pain as the force of love assaulted her. Instinctively, she thrust out her left hand to repel the powerful elemy stream directed at her. Inadvertently, she released Debbon’s soul, which immediately began its journey back through the portal until it reunited with his body.
The instant the connection happened, Debbon gasped and began breathing on his own. Both Chelesa and Alena felt the change in Debbon and swiftly disentangled themselves from his life-line. More than anything, Chelesa wanted to open her eyes and tell Debbon how relieved she was to have him returned safely to her, but the battle still raged on. None of them would be safe if the Empress were allowed to win.
Further enraged by being tricked into letting the soul go, the Empress renewed her efforts at annihilating her foe. Never before had she encountered such strength, which she both admired and hated at the same time. “You will pay for this, woman. I look forward to enslaving your soul, as well as your daughter’s. I’ll use your power for my own for all of eternity and you’ll wish you had died.” Her confidence soared as she felt Amanda’s resistance against her weaken. As soon as her enemy ran out of energy, she would steal her soul to replace those already lost to her.
Amanda’s hopes began to wane as she realized Jena’s life could be taken so easily. She could not imagine how she could do anything more than she had already, yet it was not enough. The confidence Copa had in her must have been misplaced as her onslaught weakened further.
At first, confused by his sudden return to his body, Debbon instantly felt the flux of power surrounding his body. Instinctively, Debbon delved back into the samara with his mind only to join his life-line to his samara and let the unimaginable power flow through him.
No explanation could possibly come close to the feeling of invincibility he felt while connected to the core energy of his own samara. Following the flow of energy, Debbon realized a battle raged on the realm he had just left.
Not wanting to wait and see who would win, he harnessed the power of his own crystal to tie himself into the massive cord of elemy which emanated from his samara. Having just come from Nayen, Debbon had a unique perspective on how the Empress used her will to overpower anyone who opposed her. He theorized a shield around Amanda would effectively thwart the Empress’s attempt to cause Amanda to doubt her skills.
Even as he meticulously built the threads of protection, the Empress fought him every step of the way. If nothing else, Debbon hoped he could provide enough distraction for the Empress to allow Amanda to retrieve Jena’s soul before the young girl died. The seconds passed like hours, sweat dripped from Debbon’s face, running in rivulets down through his hair as he remained prone.
Amanda felt as though she came out of a haze as soon as Debbon’s shield snapped into place, surrounding her in a cocoon of love and protection. Once the Empress’ power no longer touched Amanda, she could see what had been happening. While she urgently wanted to throw angry energy across the great divide, she knew it would only feed the Empress’s power. She had to continue to feel the warmth of her love for Jena, assaulting the evil woman with the one thing she would never possess.
With renewed purpose, Amanda gathered an impossible amount of elemy, draining everything from those joining her for her final assault. In her mind, she could see the bright colors of the elemy joining together, lighting up the space between the two worlds, shedding light on places that had never before been exposed to it. Impossible speed, as only light could have, became Amanda’s secret weapon against the Empress.
Thinking she had won the battle, even with the man’s simple shield, she began to cackle in triumph. She had wormed her way into her foe’s mind, creating doubt and ensuring her victory. Tipping her head back to laugh louder, she missed seeing the bolt of lightning, which raced straight to her heart.
The impact threw her backward with enough force to drive all the air from her lungs and knock her flat onto the floor of her throne room. The last thing she recalled was the burst of pain from where her head struck the edge of her gilded throne.
Taking advantage of the Empress’s surprise, Amanda could see the bright, wispy threads of her daughter’s soul languishing on the floor next to the evil woman’s hand, she directed the elemy to caress the threads, searching for the spark of life to ignite. A faint twinkle gave her hope as she moved the elemy to cradle the soul and return it to Tuala almost as fast as it had been snatched in the first place.
Chelesa and Alena immediately went to work on Jena. United, they tied into the young girl’s life-line, feeling Juila join them. They sent waves of comfort to the twin as they stretched Jena’s soul back into place throughout her body.
“Jena, come back to me,” Juila cried through their mental link. “I know you’ve seen the outcome of this in your dreams, but I’m here to tell you that you always woke up too soon. It’s time to come home.”
“Yes, Jena, your task is complete. Now it’s time for you to wake up and share in our joy of reuniting Debbon with his samara. We still have the prophecy to fulfill.” Alena had to quit speaking as she imagined Jena as if she were her own child, helplessly lying in front of her, still as death.
Desperate with worry for her daughter, Amanda’s attention had to remain on the open portal between the two worlds. If she were not able to close the pathway, the Empress would wake up and begin this battle all over again. None of them had the strength or desire to repeat the fight. As far as she was concerned, they never needed to see the world of Nayen ever again. Debbon had his samara and his soul, now they could close the portal and finish what they started.
Listening to the instruction from the voices of all of the previous watchers of the samaras in her mind, they knew what to do as the elemy appeared to pull the edges of the wormhole in on itself. Within a second, they no longer saw the Empress or even her world.
The portal closed with an audible popping sound, followed immediately by the floor beneath them rumbling once again as the chasm closed. Like an echo on the edges of her perception, Amanda thought she could hear the Empress screaming across the vast distance. She shivered as she comprehended the dire prediction to have revenge at all costs.
The room plunged into an ominous silence. As one, Riccan and Amanda joined together in their plea, “Jena, wake up!”
Jena gasped, instantly wondering how she had escaped the death she had foreseen for so many anons. A blanket of everyone’s love surrounded her, and she almost chuckled at the simplicity of the answer; the power of love overcame the power of evil.
Amanda began to unravel the strands of elemy from the intricate web she had constructed. The unknown task seemed to come naturally to her as if she had performed it hundreds of times before. She released each person, leaving Jena for last, just to ensure she would remain alive.
Juila only had eyes for her sister as soon as she could open them. Almost instantly, her eyes fell onto her sister’s birth crystal. With a chuckle, she exclaimed, “Jena, you’ve finally mastered the last hurdle to your tasks.”
Reading her sister’s mind, she lifted her hand and glanced down at the same time to see her birth crystal had changed to clear, flawless diamonds. No longer did her life have the dire prediction of danger and death on it. She had passed the final test and Jehoban had rewarded her with the stamp of His approval. Sending out a silent prayer, Jena closed her eyes, “Thank you for watching out for me, Jehoban.”
Debbon felt achy all over, even his eyelids felt heavy as he lifted them. The first thing he saw was his wife’s smiling face as she leaned over him.
“Welcome back, Debbon,” she whispered, before allowing the tears to slip down her cheeks, finally permitting her relief to overcome her emotions. “Never, ever do something like that to me
again! You scared me half to death.”
Debbon reached over and patted Chelesa’s hand reassuringly. “Help me up, I seem to be having a hard time telling my body to cooperate.”
Several helping hands lifted Debbon into a sitting position. For the first time, Debbon realized they were inside his reception room at his estate. He had no idea how he had come to be there, however, his relief was short-lived as he discovered they were not alone in the room. “Who are they?” he asked, receiving only bewildered looks from his friends.
As one, the thirteen participants turned in the direction Debbon indicated only to discover twenty-six strangers in the room, all leaning forward, staring at them with expressions of fear mixed with relief.
Follow Amanda’s amazing adventures in
ASCENSION’S TRUTH.
SNEAK PEEK AT
BOOK THIRTEEN
Ascension’s Truth
AVAILABLE 2020
Chapter One
AMANDA GASPED AS she recognized the people staring at them as those who she had reunited their souls with the bodies she had seen at the edge of the chasm. The enormity of their predicament became immediately apparent. Instinctively, Amanda threw up a protective shield between the twelve people surrounding her on the floor, and the twenty-six strangers who had mysteriously appeared in Elder Debbon’s living room.
Knowing these people had been victims of the Empress only went so far when the safety of her friends and family was at stake. After all, these people had been in contact with the Empress from Nayen, and for all she knew, they were just as evil as the woman who had attempted to steal their souls for her perverted sense of power.
Follow Amanda’s amazing adventures in
ASCENSION’S TRUTH.
To let others know how much you enjoyed this book, please leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads.
To keep updated on the next book of the Levels of Ascension, visit www.AmyProebstel.com.
Receive a FREE exclusive novella,
Tuala’s Lost Boy: Ceren’s Story
by signing up for Amy Proebstel’s newsletter.
GET MY FREE NOVELLA NOW
You can also follow Amy Proebstel on Facebook at www.facebook.com/levelsofascension.
About The Author
AMY IS A native Oregonian, and she enjoys the quiet of living in the countryside with her husband, Richard, and their daughter, Kailey. She shares her life and house with four Pomeranians and a special cat who thinks she’s a dog.
Reading and writing books has always been a passion in her life. There’s nothing better than getting pulled into other people’s journeys, feeling their emotions, and enjoying their successes. She writes when she’s inspired, usually after midnight, and the results have been fun to watch unfold as she immerses herself in the world of her characters.
Are you ready to be inspired?
Feel free to email Amy at [email protected].
Levels of Ascension, A Magical Realism Fantasy Series
Outside Ascension
Inside Ascension
Ascension Quest
Ascension’s Call
Answering Ascension
Ascension Seekers
Ascension’s Lure
Above Ascension
Between Ascension
Ascension’s Gate
Ruling Ascension
Ascension Watchers
Ascension’s Truth, July 1, 2020
Box Sets
Ascension Discovery – Omnibus, Books 1-4
Ascension’s Prophecy – Omnibus, Books 5-7
Ascension Vision – Omnibus, Books 8-10
Ascension Fulfilled – Omnibus, Books 11-13, August 1, 2020
Romances Beyond Tuala Trilogy
An Agent for Love
The Missing Love Link
An Undimensional Love Story
Billionaire’s Venture Romance Series
A Cowboy’s Recipe for Romance
Loving Texas Tea
Properties of Love (coming Spring 2020)
Plane Love (coming soon)
Capitalizing on Love (coming soon)
Ether of Love (coming soon)
A Sweet Young Adult
Medical Romance
The Rift In Our Reality
Do you want to know more about the people and places mentioned in this book?
Click on these links to discover more:
Cast members of Earth and Tuala
Elders of Tuala
Places in Tuala and how they relate to Earth
Time as described on Tuala
Definitions of Tualan culture
Ascension Watchers Page 31