Worlds Without End: The Prophecy (Book 3)

by Shaun Messick

  Sierrone gently removed Coen’s head from her lap, stood up slowly, and made her way next to the orb. The light from the orb’s glow revealed tiny cracks in the rock. The giants never saw the cracks in the rock when they inspected the cave because of the darkness this far back in the cavern.

  Sierrone placed her hand on the smooth rock. She dug her fingernails into the cracks and began to pull. The rock was brittle, like shale. Flecks of it dropped to the cave floor. She dug deeper, pulling larger chunks of rock away.

  She took a few steps back and looked around for a larger stone that she could pound into the wall. Finding a rock, she clutched it in her hand and began to pound away at the fragile rock. By this time, the three other women and Abadani had gathered around. Even Abadani grabbed a rock and began chipping away.

  Beads of light began to peek through the cracks they were creating. “There’s something on the other side of this wall,” Sierrone said. With one more swing, she broke a large hole through the brittle rock. Bright white light exploded into the cavern. She and the others had to shield their eyes because of its brightness. Once their eyes adjusted, and with the blue orb leading the way, they stepped into the corridor. It was large and spacious and led deeper into the mountain at a gradual, downward slope. The light emanated from a source at the end of the slope below.

  “Where do you think the light is coming from?” Vailar asked as she stepped forward, clutching Sierrone’s left arm.

  Shaking her head, Sierrone responded, “I don’t know.”

  The orb hovered down the slope, beckoning for them to follow. They began to walk slowly down the slippery surface of the smooth rock, careful not to slip. The sound of rushing water grew louder and louder as they moved further into the corridor. After a few minutes, they reached the bottom. There was a gigantic opening to their right, and they had to shield their eyes again because the brightness of the light had increased, as if they were staring into the noonday sun.

  In wonder, Vailar stepped forward, following the blue orb into the opening. “Taosheoa,” she whispered.

  Sierrone and the others followed. They marveled at the scene before them.

  “The legend is true,” Sierrone declared in astonishment.

  The view before them was astonishing. They stood frozen, staring at the beautiful garden paradise before them. To their left, a gigantic waterfall rushed down from the top of the hollow into a shimmering blue pool of water. Birds chirped, creating the most wonderful music they had ever heard. The air smelled sweet. The entire ecosystem before them was alive. It was as if they were standing outside in the brilliant sunshine. Within the center of the hollow was an immense tree, the source of light for the hollow.

  The orb quickly sped toward the tree, enticing them to follow. After a few minutes, they reached the base of the tree. Once their eyes adjusted to the light, they noticed that the trunk of the tree was enormous. Hanging from its branches were large pieces of fruit, thousands upon thousands and glowing like lanterns. The fruit was nothing like anything they had ever seen. Each piece of fruit was about the size of a cantaloupe and gold in color.

  Standing on her tiptoes, Sierrone reached up to touch the fruit. The light danced around her fingers. It was almost as if the light was attracted to her. It wrapped around her fingers, causing a rush of adrenaline to shoot through her body. Instantly, the fatigue and the pain from the minor injuries she had received after being captured by the giants was gone. She touched the fruit, and her mind was immediately enlightened.

  As she marveled, the orb hovered next to her fingers. It spoke to her mind, soothing and comforting her. Give some of this fruit to Coen.

  Sierrone immediately pulled her hand away and turned to the others. “We need to give this fruit to Coen. It will heal him.”

  Within a few minutes, Sierrone and the others were back in the cavern. Sierrone clutched the glowing fruit in her hands as she knelt down next to the lifeless body of her husband. Vailar knelt down as well, placing Coen’s head on her lap and forcing his mouth to open. Sierrone pulled a piece from the fruit and squeezed it into the palm of her hand. Streaks of light escaped through the cracks between her fingers as glowing juices dripped down into her husband’s mouth. After she squeezed all of the juice that she could, she opened her palm. The crushed remains of the fruit no longer radiated light. Quickly, she pulled more chunks from the original piece of fruit, squeezing all of its juices into Coen’s mouth until the entire fruit had been drained. After a few minutes, Coen’s veins began to emit a soft orange glow, indicating that something was happening.

  “I-it’s working,” Abadani spoke with tears streaming down his face.

  “Feel his face,” Vailar said, grabbing Sierrone’s hand and placing it upon Coen’s face.

  “It’s warm,” Sierrone declared with tears streaming down her face as well. “Somehow, this fruit is bringing life back into his body.”

  But before Sierrone could witness the healing powers of the fruit bring her husband back to life, she heard the gruesome laugh of King Middoni. Looking up, her eyes met the terrifying red eyes of the king standing in the entrance of the cavern. “Well, well, Sierrone. It looks as if you have found what we have been searching for all of these years.”

  *****

  With a gasp of air, Coen’s eyes popped open. He immediately felt around his body. Holding his previously broken arm up before him, he marveled at how he had been miraculously healed. He stood up slowly, and his legs were now working. The last thing he clearly remembered was being in the vise-like grip of King Middoni. But there were other memories, memories that seemed like dreams. He vaguely remembered standing over his dead body and next to a heavenly messenger, one whose countenance was glorious, defying description, as his wife dripped a glowing liquid into his mouth.

  He continued to stand in awe at how fast his injuries had healed. He had never felt this alive. Pure energy pulsated through his veins, giving him the newfound confidence that he could do anything. As he lifted his hands to his face, a scream brought him back to reality. “Sierrone,” he uttered, snapping his head up toward the opening at the back of the cavern. He then took off toward the source of the screams. He skidded to a halt at the bottom of the corridor, astonished at what he witnessed before him. “Taosheoa,” he whispered.

  The scream echoed throughout the hollow again. There, directly ahead of him, stood King Middoni. The giant king held Sierrone pinned to an enormous tree. His wretched laugh reverberated through the hollow. “Ah, Sierrone, did you really think that you could save your husband? You saw him. He is dead. This fruit . . .,” the king said, picking a piece of the glowing fruit off the tree and clutching it in his free hand, “. . . will make me a god. It did not work for your husband. Now watch as I partake of this fruit.”

  “No!” Coen shrieked, sprinting toward King Middoni.

  Before King Middoni could take a bite of the fruit, he turned in surprise. “It can’t be.”

  “Coen!” Sierrone screamed, knocking the fruit from the king’s grip.

  The giant king screamed in anger, hurling Sierrone across the cavern and headlong toward another tree.

  “Sierrone! No!” Coen yelled as he held out his right hand.

  Just before she crashed into the tree, her body stopped — frozen in mid-air. In stunned silence, Coen looked down at his outstretched arm. Somehow, he could feel himself holding his precious wife.

  King Middoni immediately recognized his predicament. He quickly reached down to pick up the life-giving fruit that Sierrone had knocked out of his hand. In an instant, Coen reached out with his left hand, holding the giant in place. The mass of the giant’s body was difficult to keep a telekinetic hold upon. He gently lowered his wife to the lush floor of the hollow and concentrated his strength on holding King Middoni in place.

  The giant managed to slowly move his hand toward the fruit as Coen rushed toward him. But King Middoni broke free of the invisible grip and clutched the fruit in his hand. Just before he was about
to take a bite of the precious fruit, Coen invisibly grabbed hold of the fruit, ripping it from the giant’s clutches. In his anger, Middoni tore a branch full of the precious fruit from the tree. In one swift motion, he swung the branch toward the charging Coen.

  Coen tried to duck, but the branch caught him on the left side of his body. He felt the flesh on his arm and face rip open as he was sent hurtling through the air. The fruit on the branch exploded into pieces, spewing glowing juice in every direction. He landed with a thud, knocking out his wind. Once he regained his breath, he reached up to feel his face. Streaks of a bright, glowing substance dripped from the cuts in his flesh. Sharp pains shot through his arm where the branch had ripped through his flesh as well. As he watched, the wounds on his arm and face began to close and heal.

  In his astonishment, he failed to see King Middoni, who was now charging headlong toward him. With a guttural shriek of anger, Middoni clutched Coen in both of his hands. He pulled Coen up to his face. Coen turned his head as the stench of rotting flesh flooded his olfactory senses.

  “You cannot come back from the dead if I tear you apart!” Middoni screamed as he began pulling Coen apart.

  Coen wailed in pain, feeling his spine stretch and pop. He tried with every ounce of energy he had left to summon the invisible power he had used before but to no avail. Just before the giant was about to rip him into pieces, the king suddenly stopped. With excruciating pain rippling through his back, Coen opened his eyes and looked up to meet the giant’s surprised eyes.

  Middoni stumbled backwards, dropping Coen to the ground. The same branch that the king had used to hit Coen had been plunged through his back and into his heart. Behind Middoni, Sierrone stood, holding the large branch. With a shriek, she lunged forward again, forcing the branch through King Middoni’s chest.

  The giant dropped to his knees with a defiant smile still on his face. His hollow eyes met Coen’s for a moment before he fell face first to the ground . . . dead.

  Sierrone rushed toward her husband. “Coen!”

  Still in agony from his broken back, Coen fought the urge to pass out. Sierrone held him in her grip. “What? How?” he asked. But he already knew the answer. His wife just smiled at him, knowing that his wounds would heal. Her blue eyes sparkled with a newfound hope, a hope he had not seen in her eyes for a long time. Sometime during the melee, she had managed to consume an entire piece of fruit, giving her the strength to lift the branch and thrust it through King Middoni.

  She helped Coen to his feet and helped him walk to the tree in the center of the mythical garden. Abadani, Vailar, the three other women, and the two young children joined them at the base of the tree.

  “Uncle Coen! You are alive!” Abadani shrieked, throwing himself into Coen’s arms.

  To Coen’s surprise, the pain in his back was beginning to subside as he squeezed the young boy in his arms. He picked him up and they all looked up at the glorious tree before them. The radiant light from the fruit danced around them. It was beautiful, like nothing they had ever seen before.

  Smiling, Coen put his arm around his wife. She looked at him, smiling, and back toward the tree. “Today,” Coen said. “Today, our future begins. With this fruit, we can defeat and rid Gnolom of the abomination that has cursed our world for hundreds of years. Partake of this fruit.”

  He reached up and pulled a large piece from a branch, giving his to Abadani. Abadani devoured the fruit in pure joy. Glowing juice dripped from his chin, causing Coen to chuckle. Vailar and the three women each picked and ate the fruit. They then gave some to the toddlers.

  As they did so, the blue orb appeared again, floating around Coen’s head. He put Abadani down and followed the orb with his eyes. It floated out a few meters past the trunk of the tree and they turned around to watch it. They all stood in awe as the orb transformed into the most beautiful being they had ever laid eyes upon. The being’s radiance was beyond anything Coen could describe. His countenance shone brighter than the noonday sun. He floated in the air with his naked feet hovering a few feet off of the ground. He wore a white robe held together with a white sash about his waist, and it fluttered about as if there was a breeze. The being’s hair was dark and his eyes were as blue as a tropical lagoon.

  Coen and the others dropped to their knees in reverence, knowing that before them appeared a heavenly messenger.

  The spirit called each of them by name and said, “Blessed art thou. I am he who is prophesied. The one who will come at the end of days. I am he who will unite two worlds and two peoples. From the fruit of thy loins, Coen and Sierrone, will rise a race of mighty men and women. And I, in physical form, will descend from thee and thy woman.”

  With tears streaming down his eyes, Coen asked, “But how, my Lord? My wife is barren, and we cannot conceive.”

  The spirit hovered closer to Coen with a smile on his face that radiated pure love. Without a word, the being glanced at the tree and its fruit and then nodded toward Sierrone. In that instant, Coen knew. He knew that their bodies were changed. His wife would be able to conceive.

  The spirit continued to smile and looked up at the top of the hollow. Just as the others followed with their eyes, a beam of white, blinding light shot down from the top of the hollow. A bright gold plate landed in front of them. To their wonderment, they watched as a finger appeared within the beam of light and began to carve unreadable symbols onto the plate’s surface.

  CHAPTER 1: INSURGENCE

  Earth Time - 2043, Planet of Terrest . . .

  Dorange Gar, dressed in full battle gear with a black cloak over his clothing and his head covered with a hood, stood patiently waiting. He was well hidden in a grove of pine trees and under the cover of darkness. There wasn’t a star in the sky as a thick cloud enveloped the entire region, and a light drizzle of rain dripped over him.

  Just a few yards away, he heard the snapping of a branch. He reached down and squeezed the handle of his sword. At any moment, he could extend the double-edged blade and plasma energy would wrap around it like a snake to protect him just in case this was some sort of trap.

  Through the darkness, he made out the faint outline of a person. The individual was shorter than he with a feminine figure. “Don’t come any further,” he said with authority as he withdrew his sword, activating it. The blade extended and the blue energy wrapped itself around its razor-sharp edges. The light illuminated the area just enough so that Dorange could see.

  The woman was covered in a black cloak, with the hood over her head as well, causing a dark shadow to cast over her face. She kept her distance as her hand squeezed tightly around the plasma pistol in her grasp.

  Dorange studied her for a few seconds. He couldn’t read her mind, obviously blocked by mind inhibitors. He could have easily removed them with his powers, but that would waste his energy, not to mention his Gnol abilities, which were waning quickly. “Is anyone with you?”

  “No,” replied the woman. Her voice was soft but strong.

  Dorange retracted his sword and secured it back to his belt. The two now stood in almost complete darkness. All he could see of the woman was her outline, which he preferred. “I was beginning to doubt if anyone had received my encrypted transmission.”

  “I did, so here I am.”

  Dorange smiled. He liked this woman’s spunk. “Are the terms acceptable?”

  “Yes. I just need to know one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Why would Dorange Gar, Koroan Chast’s right hand man, want to destroy the Gnol civilization?”

  Again, Dorange smiled. The woman was playing right into his plans. Of course, he didn’t want to destroy the Gnols upon Terrest. On the contrary, he wanted to rule them. But in order for his plan to work, he needed someone on the inside. Someone that despised the Gnols enough to turn on her own people. “You know Adrian Palmer?” he questioned.

  “Yes,” the woman answered.

  “And he told you who I really am; where I really come from?”
>
  “Yes.”

  “Then you know why I want to destroy the Gnols.”

  The woman remained silent for a few seconds. Even though it was dark, Dorange could feel her look of mistrust. Finally, she answered, “Very well. . . . Now what is it you want from me?”

  “Information. I want eyes on what is going on inside Adrian Palmer’s operation.”

  “Understood.”

  “So Adrian did survive after Gnolom?”

  “He did.”

  “And you don’t have a problem with betraying him?” Dorange questioned.

  “No,” the woman replied with a hint of anger in her voice. “I don’t believe Adrian Palmer has the best interest of the Terrestrian people in his heart anymore.”

  “And what led you to that conclusion?”

  “Every single one of his actions favors his family, not the Terrestrians. And because of those decisions, I’ve lost everything dear to me, even my best friend.”

  Dorange smiled again. He was beginning to like this woman. Even though he couldn’t see her, he felt as if he knew her. “Speaking of family, there’s a rumor spreading that Jake and Celeste have returned from the dead?”

  “The rumor is true,” the woman said curtly.

  “How is that possible?”

  The woman paused before responding, an indication she might be hiding something. “That information I am not privy to.”

  Dorange cocked his head sideways, looking at her with suspicion. “Very well,” he said. “What about Koroan Chast? It is rumored that his ship crashed on Gnolom.”

  “Again, I can’t verify that information.”

  Anger began boil within Dorange. He knew she was lying. “Well, if you can’t verify that information, then what use are you to me?” he said as he pulled his sword from his belt and activated it.

  The blue light of the plasma, snaking around the blade, illuminated the area. The woman stood back even further than before with her plasma pistol pointed directly at him. He laughed, admiring her courage. “You do know that I could take that from your grip before you even think of squeezing the trigger.”