“One will perish…one will stay…one will stray!” she repeated.
“It’s the prophecy,” Nefertiti confirmed.
“Meretseger, all along you’ve had us believing Ria was against us, and it was you all along!” Salixz yelled.
“That baby is dead, the prophecy even said so. I didn’t think it mattered! The child is dead! The stone possesses no value!” Meretseger yelled. “Have I been wrong all along? My powers are fading.”
“She is telling the truth,” Ina confirmed. “I can feel her truth. She truly believed this child was dead, and that the stone possessed no value. But the truth is, this being is alive, and we must find their stone. Nefertiti, we are triplets.”
“Where do we even begin to look?” Zech said.
Haw! Haw!
Angry calls from Kah’s men were beginning to fill the cave.
“Quick! We must escape before they find us,” Salixz yelled as he picked up Ria and put her over his shoulder.
Meretseger’s eyes filled with tears. “I have failed you all, greatly. For years I tried to save you, and my whole existence has revolved around saving our planet. But the time has come for me to pass on, my children. I shall stay behind.”
“Meretseger, we still need you. You can’t just abandon us,” Inanna said authoritatively.
“Let me pass in peace. My job here is done. I only wish I could have done more,” Meretseger said.
“Meretseger, let’s go!” Inanna said.
“We must go now, Ina,” Zech pleaded.
“We can’t leave Meretseger,” Ina argued.
“We don’t have time! We will all die if we stay. We must go!” Zech demanded this time.
“Meretseger, please. I beg of you to follow us,” Ina conveyed.
Meretseger pushed Ina with a force field created by her palm. They could no longer touch Meretseger. She created a tunnel, guiding them out of the cave. Looking back, they could see Kah’s men entering the cave with Jeneka.
“Don’t look back,” said Zech.
“We can’t just leave her, Zech,” Ina cried.
The rest of the group continued ahead.
“This isn’t right,” Ina said with tears in her eyes.
“Your human side always shows,” Zech said, giving her a light squeeze on her shoulder. “You have such a good heart, Ina, but right now we have to keep moving. Remember, you have a bigger purpose. We need to find your sibling and that missing stone.”
Ina looked back once more. Meretseger quickly grabbed a dagger from her wall, dipped it in a deadly potion, and stabbed herself in the heart before disintegrating into dust. The move was so swift that, for a moment, no one could comprehend what just happened.
Meretseger just killed herself.
In an instant, the witch was no more.
“Noooo!” Inanna yelled in agony.
“She’s gone,” said Nefertiti, holding back her tears.
“They’re getting closer,” Zech informed everyone. “We need to find a way out before the force field dies out.”
Past: Meretseger’s Secrets
M eretseger wrote in her spell book before casting the Squanter spell...
There are secrets that I keep,
Secrets that I can never tell.
For all those secrets that are hidden,
Are protected under spells.
I want to tell the truth,
But it’s not my place to give.
These secrets hold the spells,
That help the Covians live.
Present: Escape
T hey finally made it out of the cave and onto a cliff. How would they ever get down from this cave carrying Ria?
“What do we do now?” asked Nefertiti.
“We must find a way down the mountain,” Salixz told her.
“I’ll carry Ria,” Zech said.
Present: Cliff Hanger
Z ech still had Ria on his back, while Salixz led the way.
“Stop,” Ina announced.
Ina’s eyes suddenly turned purple.
“Stand back,” she commanded.
At the top of the cliff stood Jeneka. She was powerful and determined to find them. Ina’s eyes went white, as they rolled to the back of her head and lightning bolted from her hands.
Jeneka stood on the mountaintop, sending sound waves so strong they made the trees sway and bend. Kah’s men were catching up.
Ina stood up and her spine began to glow. “Ruuunnn!”
Inanna bolted, faster than she ever imagined. She grabbed Ria from Salixz’s arms, and ran ahead of all of them. The trees beside them bent and swayed, as Jeneka tried to follow their trail for Kah’s men to find them.
“Stop!” Ina yelled.
“We can’t stop! They’re too close.”
“We’re losing Ria,” she said.
“Ina, we have to keep moving,” Zech pleaded.
Inanna ignored him. She laid Ria on the ground facing up, and the tornado cloud began to form around Ria. The army men were approaching, and there was no way to escape them now. Zech and Salixz took out their weapons, while Nefertiti stood behind them.
“Let them come,” Ina said with conviction.
“Inanna, you haven’t had practice with your powers,” Zech warned.
“Let them come,” she reiterated.
Kah and his men now stood before them, the funnel cloud around Ria becoming more powerful with every passing second.
“Halt!” Kah commanded his men. “Let me have the honor. Princess Inanna,” he stated condescendingly.
Inanna stood tall. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Kah. Now that I know everything you’ve done to my family, and the hell you’ve put all of your people through…”
Kah laughed out loud.
“Oh Princess. It was only for your own good. You see, I don’t want to kill you, I only want you to save our planet.”
“You want me to save our planet, so you can destroy it in the end.”
“No – oh no, I want nothing more than what you want for everyone to live peacefully as ooonnnne. One, in Kahnroch.”
“Never,” she replied.
Inanna bolted towards Kah, jumped and kicked him in the center of his armored chest. Both of them flew backwards, both powers colliding.
“Ina!” Zech yelled.
Zech and Salixz began fighting the other men, trying to keep them away. Nefertiti pulled her sword, the only way she knew how to fight. She began fighting with one of the soldiers, only to be tossed against a tree unconscious.
Ina relentlessly fought back, finally sending Kah to the ground. Suddenly, lightning bolts burst from her hands and eyes. Her mother, Akeena’s, death flashed before her eyes, and she had a vision of her dad, Atum, being beaten and dragged into a bunker. With all of her power and might, she fought Kah without mercy.
The two of them battled like old foes on the battlefield; Kah a much larger figure, yet was being equally pushed back by Princess Inanna. He was a skilled warrior, yes, but the princess was fighting with something so much more. The hatred she felt towards the one who’d robbed her of so much combined with her ever emerging powers gave her the spark she needed to stand on level footing with Kah.
He was left in shock.
That’s when Inanna made her final play. Using his hesitation and fear of her against him, she took the sword straight from out of his grip and decapitated him in one clean swipe. Zech and Salixz had also managed to fight off the other men, leaving them lifeless on the ground.
The lightning bolts subsided and Ina dropped to the ground unconscious. Zech ran to her and Salixz ran to Nefertiti, who was now conscious again.
“She used too much power!” Zech cried.
Looking up to the mountain, Zech could still see Jeneka watching from above. The trees finally took the proper positions, as Jeneka turned and walked away.
“Ina, please, wake up,” Zech begged as he cradled her in his arms.
Zech’s tears fell down his cheeks, turning
blue as they landed on Ina’s face. She suddenly awakened. She wasn’t even groggy. Her eyes bolted open in green fury.
“Ria,” she stated and stood up quickly.
Ina stood over Ria, allowing the lightning to enter her hands again.
“What are you doing, Ina! You’ve used too much power already!” Zech said running towards Ina.
“Leave her, brother,” Salixz held Zech back.
Ina laid her hands over Ria’s chest, and dug her fingertips into her chest until the electricity pulsated through her glowing veins. A few moments later, Ria opened her eyes slowly.
Ina fell to the ground for a moment, as the lightning shock left her body. She did not go unconscious and quickly stood back up.
“Ria,” Ina called.
Nefertiti came to their side as well, as Salixz and Zech also came to kneel beside them.
“What happened?” Ria asked.
“We escaped Kah, he’s dead,” Ina informed them.
Ria smiled and cried tears of joy. She looked as if a thousand years of pain had been lifted off her shoulders.
“I know everything now, and my full powers have been awakened,” Ina said. “There is no need to be afraid; this day was always meant to come. I have returned to Cova, and what was wrongfully taken from me has been returned.”
Inanna turned to Ria, “You are our sister.”
Zech and Salixz looked at each other in disbelief. Ria’s eyes filled with tears of joy, as she grabbed Ina and Nefertiti’s hands. Suddenly, a thousand glowing butterflies filled the air and surrounded them as Pipa appeared.
“Pipa?” Ina cried and hugged her grandmother tightly.
“Ina, I’ve missed you so much. I begged the Creator to let me look after you, and he allowed me this visit. There is so much I want to protect you from, but you must fight this journey on your own.”
“Wait, why can’t you stay? There must be a way to keep you here?”
“It doesn’t work that way, Ina. There is a life beyond this. But great danger lies ahead for Cova; this isn’t over yet,” Pipa warned.
The butterflies began to take formation and scatter.
“I must go back.”
Pipa hugged Inanna tightly, and they both began to cry. “I love you, Ina. I will always love you and be with you.”
Ina refused to let go, as Pipa slowly vanished with all the butterflies that had illuminated the night.
“Well, if it isn’t the three sisters who have come to save destiny,” called an unfamiliar voice.
“Jeneka,” said Salixz worriedly.
“Kah may be gone, but you won’t be able to get rid of me that easily.” Jeneka offered a sinister smile. “I finally have you all where I want you.”
A heavy feeling came over all of them.
This would be no easy battle.
Jeneka was the most powerful being after King Euron’s death. She had mastered every beat of Cova, every power of the beings, and had collected so many hearts that she had become cold-hearted herself. Only the Creator himself would be able to defeat her, and now they were all at her mercy.
As she leered at them, everyone knew the fight was far from over.
In fact, the War for Cova had just begun...
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