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Dark Humanity

Page 127

by Gwynn White


  Sarah’s father held the limp body in his arms and got to his feet. He looked down at the dead man’s face and a tear rolled down his cheeks.

  “I know this face. This is the man who…”

  The Elder met Joshua’s eyes. He turned to the crowd and cried, “This brave man’s sacrifice will not go in vain.”

  His lower lip quivered as he surveyed the dozens of bodies strewn across the ground in all directions. Tears rolled from his eyes. “None of those that died here today will be forgotten.”

  Nobody spoke as the Elder uttered those solemn words. The only sound was a few people sobbing. Joshua collapsed to his knees. He looked down at the three orbs on the ground. They were still pulsating gently, and he reached to pick them up.

  As he did, there was a blinding flash, and he found himself engulfed within a blue flame. He levitated above the ground, disconnected from reality. The flame surrounding him wasn’t moving. He was still aware of his surroundings but everything had stopped, and time itself was standing still once more. The Oracle spoke to him in a triumphant tone.

  “Joshua, you have done well,” the voice echoed. “You have fulfilled your destiny and helped my children return to this world.”

  Joshua’s mind filled with a complex mixture of emotions, and he felt an anger welling inside him. He had gone through so much pain and had lost so much in the process. Not only had he found and then lost his father, but he also had to experience the grief at giving up his one true love. It was so unfair.

  “Why?” he demanded. “Why did you tell me I had to give up my love for Sarah? Why was that necessary?”

  Joshua felt that his sorrow would overwhelm him.

  “My dear Joshua, you have experienced so much sadness in your young life, and your path has been a difficult one. For this I must ask your forgiveness. The power of the Orb of Suffering can only be summoned by one who has experienced true sorrow. I told you only what you needed to know to fulfil your destiny. My sweet Joshua, you have been through so much and done so well. The time for your suffering is now at an end. Go now and love her tenderly.”

  There was another bright flash of light and Joshua found himself kneeling on the ground with the three orbs before him. They were no longer glowing or making any noise. They were just three crystal spheres, glistening in the evening twilight.

  Joshua stood up and looked into Sarah’s watery, deep blue eyes. He threw his arms around her and held her tightly.

  “I’ll never leave you, Sarah,” he whispered in her ear, “I love you so much.”

  He and Sarah embraced, their sobbing the only sound that could be heard.

  Two Jemarrah Warriors took the body of Joshua’s father from the Elder.

  The Elder walked over to Joshua and Sarah. He stood before them and put his hands on Joshua’s shoulders. He didn’t say anything, but Joshua knew by this that he was no longer carrying any of the hate he had felt earlier. It was the seal of approval both Joshua and Sarah needed.

  “There’s one more thing we need to do,” Joshua said to the Elder.

  He looked at Melachor. “Do you still have the Mirror of Prophecy?”

  Melachor pulled out the mirror from inside his cloak and handed it to him.

  Joshua turned to the Elder.

  “You need to be ready. There won’t be much time.”

  “Joshua, no!” Sarah cried in horror. She held her hand to her mouth, shaking her head.

  “There’s nothing stopping the Goat from coming through the Portallas. I have to stop him. Otherwise, what was it all for?”

  He looked at the Elder and nodded.

  The Elder unsheathed his axe. He gripped its handle with both hands and gave Joshua a determined nod. Joshua lifted the mirror to his face. His image faded and a dark, swirling cloud replaced it.

  The face of the Goat took form. The image cleared, and the Goat peered back through the mirror. The vile creature tilted His head forward and Joshua could see the whites beneath His malicious eyes. The Goat’s face contorted with rage and He thrust His arm through the mirror and grabbed Joshua by the throat. His vice-like grip squeezed, and Joshua gasped for air, his legs dangling just above the ground.

  The Elder raised the axe above his head and, in a single sweeping motion, slashed it down on the Goat’s arm, severing it completely from His body. The sound of the Goat screaming in agonising pain could be heard fading into the distance. The mirror and the Goat’s severed arm fell to the ground. The muscular limb lay there in a pool of its own blood, twitching.

  After a few seconds, it stopped moving. Everyone watched in stunned silence as the arm crumpled into dust and was blown into the air and away through the trees. Now able to breathe again, Joshua picked up the mirror, but all he could see was his own reflection. The Goat was gone.

  Epilogue

  Several days later, the Elder stood in front of a large crowd that had gathered in the cemetery just outside the village of Jemarrah. A freshly dug mound of earth lay before him where Joshua’s father had been laid to rest. Warriors and Woodsmen from all over Forestium were joined by Imps and people from the Valley of Moross to pay their final respects to those that had fallen during the battle. By the Elder’s side were Joshua, Sarah, Andrew and Galleon.

  “Today we honour all of those fallen in battle,” the Elder told the crowd. “Those of you that are here today are here because of the courage, bravery and selflessness of a few.”

  Sarah took Joshua’s hand and squeezed it.

  “To find meaning in their deaths,” the Elder said, looking directly at Joshua, “all of us must let go of the hate and learn to live with one another in peace and harmony.”

  He walked over to Joshua, stood in front of him and put one arm around his shoulder.

  “And we must find forgiveness in our hearts,” he said quietly to Joshua. The Elder smiled and walked away, followed by the crowd of people, leaving Joshua and Sarah standing, looking down at the grave.

  Joshua shook his head sadly, “I’m sorry. I tried my best, but it wasn’t good enough.”

  A single Woodsman was left standing in the distance after the crowd had gone. He morphed into a majestic Raetheon with huge, white wings and took to the sky. The Raetheon circled high above the site of the grave and cried three times before soaring off into the distance.

  If you plan to continue with this series, there’s a cliffhanger…but I suggest you stop here if you don’t like cliffhangers and don’t plan to continue.

  Thanks for reading!

  Several weeks later, Joshua and Sarah were walking hand in hand through the forest just outside of Morelle. Sarah looked at Joshua and giggled.

  “You know you have mud down the side of your nose.”

  Joshua laughed back. He reached into his keeper bag and took out the Mirror of Prophecy. He looked into it to see what Sarah was talking about.

  Joshua peered into the mirror. He opened his mouth and his eyes widened. Sarah’s smile faded. “Joshua? What is it?”

  He turned and stared at her in horror.

  “The Goat. He’s still alive. He has them. He has them all!”

  The End

  Continue the Portallas Series in book two, Archipelago. Details can be found on the Portallas web-site:

  http://www.portallas.com

  Don’t Forget To Subscribe to the Portallas newsletter for a chance to win an autographed hardback copy of Forestium: The Mirror Never Lies!

  http://www.portallas.com/free-book/

  About the Author

  Christopher Morgan is an author, blogger, IT Manager, graphics artist, businessman, volunteer and family man living in Melbourne, Australia. Much of his time is spent volunteering for his local community. He creates visual learning resources for primary school children, which are marketed through his company Bounce Learning Kids. He is also involved in local civics and sits on various community & council committees.

  Christopher was born in the UK and grew up in England’s South East. At age 20, he moved to Th
e Netherlands, where he married Sandy, his wife of 28 years. Christopher quickly learned Dutch and the couple spent 8 years living in the far South of that country before they moved to Florida in 1996. After spending 7 years in Florida, Christopher and Sandy sold their home and spent the next 2 years backpacking around the world. Christopher has visited around 40 countries to date.

  Whilst circumnavigating the globe, Christopher wrote extensively, churning out travel journals. He and Sandy settled back in the UK at the end of their world tour, where their two children were both born. In 2009, the family moved to Melbourne, Australia, where they now live.

  Read More from Christopher D. Morgan

  https://www.amazon.com/Christopher-D.-Morgan/e/B01DSV6OX4

  http://portallas.com/

  Goddess of War

  K.N. Lee

  Copyright © 2016 by K.N. Lee

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  www.knlee.com

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Goddess of War/ K.N. Lee. – 1st Ed.

  Acknowledgments

  I would like to thank everyone that has supported me on my writing journey. Thank you, as always, to my fairy god-mother, Colleen M. Albert, my mother, brother, and father. Thanks to my amazing husband, and to my little angel, Jensen.

  Dedicated to my younger brother, Desmond Allen James Williams. Thank you for always listening to my stories when we were children.

  I love you, Desi.

  Prologue

  “They will both have to die,” Litha said.

  Nausea filled Kellian’s gut as he looked down at his twin children. They practiced their swordsmanship in the clearing behind their manor in the countryside of Latari.

  Parthi directed them in the proper technique of the East, making their strikes fluid, smooth, and precise.

  Kellian’s heart was broken. He had a devastating choice to make. His children were chosen to join countless others in the selection of the next ruler of all the gods of Aden, Latari, and Gilborn.

  “I don’t agree with this decision,” Kellian said to the Goddess of Law as she watched his children with that cool gaze of hers.

  She glanced over her shoulder, her long lavender hair flowing down her back and to her heels.

  “You always were a rebel. This time, the Council has made their demands clear. Do you not have faith?”

  Kellian turned his gaze from his former wife to his current wife, the mother of his beloved children. He wasn’t strong enough to make the decision.

  Allana’s sparkling gray eyes met his. Tears clouded them. She shook her head.

  “Don’t look at me. You know how I feel about all of this,” Allana said. She shot a glare at Litha. “I’d rather keep my children here in their home and forget all aspirations toward ruling this world.”

  “Then it is a good thing your opinion doesn’t count for anything,” Litha said to her, her cool blue eyes going from Allana to Kellian. “Now is not the time to have doubts, Kellian. You’ve had ten years to think this over. Pick one now, lest the Council punishes you for such blatant stalling.”

  Kellian’s shoulders slumped. “I cannot send them to their death.”

  He avoided the gaze of his darling daughter, Preeti and his son, Vineet as they finished their lesson and looked up at them. How would he tell them what was about to happen?

  Allana stepped to Litha, the tears trailing down her cheeks. “How can you be so cold about this? If you had children, you would send them to their death without a second thought, you heartless witch.”

  A ghost of a smile crept onto Litha’s lips. “You’re right. I would send them without a second thought.”

  “Right,” Allana said. “Because you are a heartless witch.”

  “Because I have faith.”

  “Lord Kellian,” Greyon, Kellian’s advisor said. He stepped in from the inner corridor of their two-story home, carrying his staff along with him. With a long black beard, olive-colored skin, and hair that reached his lower back, Greyon looked as though he could have been Kellian’s father. “There is a way around the Council’s ruling.”

  Litha grimaced at him, shoving him aside.

  “No. We do not need your advice. The Council was clear on this, and as the Goddess of Law, I deem it unlawful to shirk their demands.” Litha stood nearly as tall as Greyon, with her white shall pulled tight across her shoulders.

  “Right.” Greyon stepped back; his head lowered in submission. “My apologies, Goddess.”

  Allana walked out through the archway to her children.

  Kellian shook his head at Greyon. “Sometimes I curse the Council and their holy rulings,” he said before following his wife.

  Litha stayed behind, her mouth pursed at hearing Kellian’s words.

  Kellian nodded for Parthi to leave the children. The master trainer bowed before leaving through one of the gates to the barracks where Kellian’s army trained and resided.

  Kellian watched Allana bend to her knees before the young girl and boy. They were identical twins, with their mother’s bronze skin, long black hair, and gray eyes. It seemed that the only trait they’d inherited from Kellian was their height and athletic build. At sixteen, they were already the height of most adult gods in the empire.

  Allana looked at the two closely, her gray eyes full of sorrow.

  Kellian looked away with a deep sigh.

  The satisfaction on Litha’s face as he glanced at her brought his rage to a boil. She didn’t do this for their world. She did it because she wanted him to suffer. What could be worse than losing his beloved children? The chance of one of them being chosen to rule was thin. Even if one were chosen, the other would be lost forever.

  Either way, one of his children would die.

  Litha gripped the balcony railing. “You are lucky that we have two children. Your chances are at least greater than most of the gods.”

  Kellian couldn’t speak. He knew that if he did, he’d say something that would increase Litha’s hate for him. She was a Greater God, one with power far greater than Kellian’s as a Lesser God. Still, he imagined himself crushing her throat in his fist.

  Greyon put a hand on Kellian’s shoulder. “Do not worry. I will take care of Preeti and Vineet’s arrangements.”

  “Fine,” Kellian said with finality. It was as if his children had not just been condemned to execution at the Cliffs of Ranoun with hundreds of other sacrifices.

  Kellan stood beside Allana as they watched the grand procession. Dawn had barely filled the sky with sunlight as Preeti and Vineet marched out to the Cliffs of Ranoun with all of the other sacrifices. They wore their best garments, shiny and rich in red color. Indeed, everyone in attendance wore their most lavish clothing.

  It was time for a reckoning.

  He knew how terrible the sacrifices were. The Cliffs of Ranoun would either claim them or send their bodies hundreds of feet into the sharp rocks at the bottom. After that, only the powerful waves from the Ranoun Ocean could cleanse their bodies from the rocks.

  This is how the gods chose their rulers. Not through war, or through ancestry.

  Sacrifice was the only way.

  Kellian could only hope that the gods would find both of his innocent children worthy. He couldn’t stand the thought of watching them die.

  Litha sat back in her chair, her legs draped over the side as she drank a goblet of wine. Her smooth brown skin s
eemed to glow beneath their red sun. All eyes went to her when she stood.

  Litha’s eyes met Kellian’s a smirk deepening the dimples in her cheeks.

  “Let the ceremony begin.”

  Preeti and Vineet followed the others. The heat of the red sun beamed down on Vineet’s light bronze skin, making sweat glisten on his forehead, soaking through his garments. Even his feet battled the heat as he walked along the burning hot dirt toward the cliffs.

  His eyes darted from person to person. Fear bubbled in his stomach as he watched the reactions of the people around him. Some had tears streaming down their faces, others screamed as they were pulled along like prisoners. The ones that interested him the most were those that had stern faces full of purpose and determination and those with serene smiles.

  Their smiles made his skin crawl. Even he could tell that nothing good was about to happen. From what he knew of this event, he would not survive. Tears streamed down his face as he realized that he would never see his family again.

  Why were they chosen for this? Neither of them wanted to rule. They simply wanted to live out their lives like normal gods.

  He held Preeti’s hand, giving it a squeeze when she showed hesitation.

  “Come, sister. We have to go.”

  Preeti bit her bottom lip but nodded.

  Vineet knew her thoughts and feelings. He wanted to cry as well.

  What did it matter if anyone saw them cry?

  On this day…he and his sister would die. They all would.

  No amount of pampering or pep talks the week leading up to now could hide that fact or ease his fears.

  “Go with dignity.”

  “Do not show your fear.”

  “This is a beautiful thing.”

 

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