Suddenly a gush of wind whipped their faces as another shape emerged from the dense mist. A twister emerged, like a hurricane sweeping away anything in its path; it attacked the black tree-like entity. Shooting energy bolts at the tree; it recoiled in pain, making a screeching sound like a person dragging a wooden chair across a polished floor. The black tree started to disintegrate; with small dust particles joining the fog the creature simply vanished. Dan closed his eyes and held his breath as the thing was literally blown away. The warrior moved away to continue the fight deep within the dense mist.
The battle continued for several minutes, they observed flashes of light, quickly followed by primal, often fatal, screams and constantly shifting shapes that created a rush of wind. As the battle raged, the noises seemed to grow louder and closer. Ally was the first to notice a dark red mist, that seemed to seep through gray dense fog, like a serpent it maneuvered and penetrated the protective covering making its way towards the Crocodile Queen. It pushed the cold gray mist aside easily allowing them all to finally see each other clearly. The red mist swirled and undulated until it started to form into a shape, assembling into a tall, striking, slender woman, dressed in long flowing red wispy robes, crowned with jet black waist length hair, that blew violently in the swirling wind. She raised her chin to reveal an alabaster, sculptured face, deep sunken cheeks, vibrant red lips, and piercingly beautiful, hypnotic green eyes. They all knew who stood before them, this was Elora, in her full glory, and she’d come for her revenge.
Still anchored to the ground, and powerless to resist, they knew their journey was about to end. When everything seems dark, and there is no hope left, sometimes a calmness descends upon the victims. Ally closed her eyes, took a deep breath and accepted her fate. The Crocodile Queen glared at Elora, she demonstrated her hatred with a defiant fire burning brightly behind her eyes. The Crocodile Queen still had faith in the power of good and light, and purity and love, for she believed the forces of good would always win the war. Dan was not calm at all, he felt angry, his rage bubbled up uncontrollably within his restrained body, he couldn’t move, he hated being the victim of a dark magic spell. He wanted to fight, but his body and his spirit could not break free. The situation looked bleak, but Dan would have fought on valiantly, resisting until the very end.
Elora raised her right arm, the wisps of her red silk sleeves blew like dancing snakes charmed by the wind, she extended her bony finger pointing it directly at the Crocodile Queen, “No” screamed Dan, the words not managing to make a sound from his mouth. Ally new this was the end and couldn’t watch, she closed her eyes tightly and expected the worst. A blast of bright red energy streaked out from Elora’s finger, the Crocodile Queen expected this response and was fast enough to react; with both arms raised she managed to thrust her hands forward, exposing her palms in direct opposition to Elora’s assault. A burst of blinding white light shot forth from the Crocodile Queen, meeting, battling, and actively resisting Elora’s powerful red beam. Like an energetic arm wrestle, Elora’s red beam of burning energy would advance towards the Crocodile Queen momentarily winning the epic struggle, only to be repelled, the pure white light moving the red blast backwards, as the two energies mingled and battled it out. The Crocodile Queen’s white light had started to fade in its intensity, she was starting to weaken and wilt under the relentless pressure that Elora exerted. Dan could see the Crocodile Queen physically weakening as she fought hard to keep her arms raised; it was obvious that she would soon be forced to succumb.
Dan’s heart was pumping frantically almost bursting through his chest, his blood surged through his veins like an out of control river, he felt powerless, and as much as he struggled to break his restraints he couldn’t do anything to assist. It filled him with rage, anger and fear, his body trembled as Elora swiveled her demonic gaze towards Ally. Dan felt a sudden spike of panic as Elora extending her other hand, this time pointing a finger towards Ally. In horror Dan watched the tip of her boney elongated finger, “Oh God, no,” thought Dan, demanding his body to move, to respond to his commands, to free itself from this paralyzed state. He couldn’t move, he was firmly rooted to the spot, restrained sufficiently by this sadistic spell. He couldn’t bear to watch, if Ally was going to be killed, he didn’t want to see it. He closed his eyes and prayed for help. Dan would never describe himself as a religious person, but on that day, he heard his inner voice begging for mercy and pleading for an immediate intervention from any higher power.
Dan’s life flashed before him, he recalled the struggles his mother had persevered through in her life, finally finding some happiness with her new man. He imagined how she would react when she learned the news that her son was gone? Dan would not get a chance to live with and love the girl of his dreams – Ally. He thought he was destined to be with this vibrant young woman and yet he’d failed to protect her, on her very first mission. The Crocodile Queen would not be able to repel the powerful red energy streaming towards her in her weakened state. Elora was far too powerful, and it was becoming clearer with each second that she would easily win this battle, condemning Kaan to a life of wretched internment. Dan’s head flooded with so many conflicting emotions, he failed to notice an important subtle change, the cold frigid mist that once had shrouded their static bodies in a protective shield, suddenly started to dissipate. Ally felt a strong warm glow, it was the type of feeling that you get on a cold winters night when you turn your body to face a roaring fire. Dan opened his eyes to see a blinding white light appearing from the direction in front of them.
Dan blinked his eyes, trying to make sure they were not playing a trick on him. He could clearly see the extended wings of an angel, he recognized the angel as the one he’d studied perched high above the Allward cenotaph, and she was clearly visible, emerging from the remnants of the mist like a strong warrior. Blinding beams of white light pulsed from a ring of leaves the angel held within her raised hands. Like a lighthouse beams through the thick fog, she lit the entire area until her beam focused, piercing the back of Elora and entering her heart. Elora shook violently, she spasmed and flapped around wildly, caught within the snare of the fatally pure white light. Elora’s attack on Ally had been prevented, her attack on the Crocodile Queen started to weaken.
A crackling beam of pure white light surged through Elora’s body, raced down her outstretched arm and snuffed out any last remnants of red energy. It continued to race towards the Crocodile Queen enveloping her completely. “Ally open your eyes,” shouted Dan enthusiastically. He could feel his feet, once trapped and immobile, suddenly releasing, freeing him from his evil bondage. Elora’s powers had weakened; Dan knew his body was slowly returning to its normal state.
Ally opened her eyes, she saw Elora shaking wildly, her body spasmed as a penetrative shaft of pure blinding white light entered her body like a laser beam from a science fiction movie. Faint squeals of pain could still be heard from behind the angel, it was the noise of beasts and demons being vanquished.
A monumental battle had occurred today, but they couldn’t see any of the fighting. Dan tried to look beyond the angel; he could see a strong red light that seemed to come from a weird oval shaped portal. It hovered, suspended above one of the fountains as if it defiantly challenged the laws of gravity. The portal resembled a crude tear in the fabric of reality, it was clearly a window to another world, another realm. Menacing, snarling beasts were crawling over each other, fighting to burst through the opening and enter this realm. Several scorching, hot white light beams, emanated from several sources, they were concentrated upon the portal’s entrance evaporating the beasts that spilled forth. They screamed in pain, as their bodies evaporated before they were released from the portal’s clutches. Brave warriors, Dan could only describe them as gray swirling clouds, mini-twisters, tornadoes armed with inner storms shooting lightning bolts of pure energy from within their center. They hovered, shooting their collective beams of white light at the portal’s entrance. They continued to force
the beasts to retreat, eventually flooding the red portal with so much white light that they forced it to close.
It was over in an instant, the portal disappeared, folding in on itself; the thundering noise stopped immediately, and the mist had completely cleared. It was surreal, a full-blown battle being fought in a thick blanket of gray, white, and red mist that suddenly cleared in a fraction of a second.
Dan looked at Elora, trapped on the wrong side of a closed portal, he saw her body implode from the devastating white light, her last moments in this realm, consisted of a blood curdling laugh, before she simply vanished, ‘Good riddance,’ Dan thought. As soon as Elora was gone, a spinning cloud-like creature physically separated from the chest of the angel, returning her image to her stationary sentry atop of the Allward cenotaph. The cloud-like entity moved away in the direction of the Crocodile Queen. The evil spell had been broken, the mist had completely cleared, but Dan and Ally were still motionless, still in shock. Dan had glanced at Ally to make sure she was ok.
After the battle, and the frenetic commotion, all Dan could hear now was the soothing sound of running water, flowing through the fountains at the base of the cenotaph, he glanced across at the Crocodile Queen, and she seemed to be interacting with the swirling cloud. After a few seconds it disappeared, leaving the Crocodile Queen motionless, holding her head in her hands. Ally approached the Crocodile Queen, “Are you ok?”
She breathed the fresh air in deeply, “Yes. That was too close for comfort.”
“What were those swirling hurricane things?” inquired Dan.
“Let’s just say you never saw them, they took a huge risk coming here to our realm, exposing their very existence. They’re spiritual creatures from another realm, and I’m mighty glad they came to help us.”
Ally pulled her hair back away from her face, “Looks like they killed that bitch Elora.”
“No,” the Crocodile Queen shook her head, a car hummed by on the quiet street to their right, as University Avenue seemed to return to normal. The sun reflected bouncing off the windows of the large, majestic Canada Life building, that looked down over the cenotaph. “Elora was stopped, not killed. She’ll be back for us all. They tried to prevent us from reaching the cenotaph and the necklace. The necklace has old world powers, and it frightens them to think it could be wielded by a white witch with an ancient bloodline.” the Crocodile Queen turned to look at Ally.”
University Avenue, once frozen in time by a magical mist, started to wake, Dan could hear the chirping of birds, a couple of pedestrians ambled their way to work, cars started to move slowly along University Avenue.
“Let’s get that necklace and solve this riddle,” stated Ally defiantly. She broke the Crocodile Queen’s train of thought, she was preoccupied in how close they’d come to death, if Atheria and her warriors from the Ninth Realm had not been there, she would have been vanquished by Elora, leaving Dan and Ally helpless.
Ally stared at the Crocodile Queen, “Come on, we can’t dwell on this, let’s get the necklace and get the hell out of here while we can.”
Dan had a head start on his way to the base of the cenotaph. He instinctively headed towards the statue of the soldier located at the left of the cenotaph’s base. This soldier carried his rifle slung over his shoulder with the heel of his back foot arched across the rise of the stone step. It was difficult to see, below the soldier’s heel, etched into the weathered metal base was an inscription.
“Here,” shouted Dan, the excitement coursing through his body, “look here, it says, Walter S Allward 1909.”
Ally approached quickly, she recited the riddle from memory, “A haven has been found, under a winged angle facing south, guarded by a lady of peace, flanked by two loyal soldiers, Allward's vision, a loyal servant to the founder of the empire, with weapon slung, a heel hides the truth, under 1909."
The Crocodile Queen was the last to arrive, with the three huddled at the base of the cenotaph, all gathered around the soldier’s heel, but the 1909 inscription was closer to the soldiers left foot and heel, “a heel hides the truth, under 1909,” repeated the Crocodile Queen.
Dan contorted his face, “The only thing that’s under the 1909 is a stone slab,” Dan sounded disappointed.
The Crocodile Queen kneeled in front of the subscription; she closed her eyes, concentrated and pushed her palms together with as much force as she could. Her hands started to glow with a white energy, having been recharged by the pure white light from the earlier battle.
Dan was alert, he ordered Ally to huddle closer to him, creating a human shield around the Crocodile Queen blocking the view from any passing onlooker. The Crocodile Queen leaned forward and pushed her hands towards the weathered granite slab. Her hands slipped through the granite, and the blinding light, entering a cavity concealed behind the stone slab.
The Crocodile Queen seemed to fumble around inside the structure, her arms surrounded by an uncomfortably bright glowing light. The Crocodile Queen closed her eyes, shielding them from the glare; she suddenly moved her arms back inwards towards her body, withdrawing her hands from the granite slab. The intense light faded away leaving the granite slab intact, a dark black circular stain was the only evidence of an intrusion. The Crocodile Queen was holding a piece of brown stained burlap, a fabric covering used by landscapers.
Dan and Ally instinctively moved closer, to block the view of anyone close by. The Crocodile Queen carefully unfolded the burlap cover to reveal a golden chain with an amulet attached. In an instant, she covered the object, without truly inspecting the necklace.
“Is that the necklace?” inquired Dan, refusing to be left in suspense after everything they’d gone through to find it. Ally was pleased with Dan’s directness.
“Yes. We’ve got what we need, but we have to get out of here, it’s still dangerous,” the Crocodile Queen looked around trying to find a place less obvious than the median of University Avenue.
Together they crossed the road to the west side of University when they came across a narrow alley separating office buildings. The Crocodile Queen spotted the entrance to an underground parking garage and led them into the entrance. They walked down the ramp that guided the cars below the building and disappeared. “Hold onto me,” the Crocodile Queen said, Dan and Ally knew what to do. They each held a hand and braced themselves. A flash of golden light illuminated the parking garage entrance for an instant, and due to the timely intervention of Atheria, the spiritual leader of the Ninth Realm, all three were able to leave Toronto safely.
* * * * *
The Third Realm - Haitden
Chapter 10: The Monastery of Light.
The Monastery of Light, Haitden.
“My imagination is a monastery and I am a monk.”
The Crocodile Queen, Dan and Ally all transported into the stone room at the Monastery of Light, perched high within the peaks of the Mountains of Haitden. Atheria had told the Crocodile Queen when they were in Toronto, that she would secure the location for their arrival. Knowing her destiny was to free Kaan, his location would be an obvious place for Elora to set an ambush. The warriors from the Ninth Realm were reluctant to expose their presence and their power, until Atheria convinced them of the importance of helping the other realms. Once evil had established a strong foothold across the other realms they would grow in power and use this as a platform to attack the Ninth Realm. Atheria delivered an impassioned plea to their highest council that the time was right to expose their existence and assist the creatures of the other realms in their fight for survival.
The vote was close but Atheria carried the day, she was escorted by a legion of highly trained combat warriors to secure the location and provide a safe escort for the Crocodile Queen, Dan and Ally’s arrival. Once inside, the Crocodile Queen unwrapped the necklace and approached the stone statue of Kaan. Dan and Ally had not seen Kaan in this state. They approached with caution. They studied the statue of the monk, dressed in familiar robes; his hair and his chiseled face
turn to stone. They could see his eyes, the bridge of his nose, his beard, and the outline of his scar that ran across his face narrowly missing his eye. The stone room had been cleaned, the mutilated bodies of the resident monks had been removed, the broken furniture had also been removed. The stone floor and splattered walls had all been cleaned of any blood.
The Crocodile Queen talked with one of the swirling cloud warriors as Dan and Ally studied Kaan. “This escort was arranged by Atheria, the Spiritual Leader of the Ninth Realm, my friend. She could not leave the Ninth Realm as her council insisted she stay, she wishes us luck in our quest and assures us our safety until we leave the monastery.”
Crocodile Queen Page 19