Worlds Without End: The Prophecy (Book 3)

by Shaun Messick

  “Do you want me to watch Calum while you go out and look for her?” Ariauna asked.

  “Oh, would you?” Celeste said, relieved.

  She invited Ariauna into the bungalow. Ariauna hung her rain-soaked cloak on the hanger near the door and reached out for Calum. “There you are, little guy,” she said, gently kissing his soft cheek. Calum stirred a little and began to whimper again, but Ariauna quickly comforted him, patting his back.

  Celeste went into the bedroom and changed into her black fatigues, one of the few changes of clothes she had left. After changing, she came back to the living room. Ariauna sat in the rocking chair, patting Calum’s back and rocking back and forth while she sang a lovely lullaby of Terrestrian origin.

  Celeste leaned down and kissed Calum. “Thank you,” she said, placing her hand on Ariauna’s.

  “It’s my pleasure,” Ariauna replied, smiling.

  Celeste then grabbed her own rain cloak hanging near the door and left the bungalow into the storm-filled night to find and make peace with her best friend.

  *****

  Sheets of water washed over Nichelle like a waterfall as she walked through the darkness, which was only illuminated by lightning strikes followed by heart-pounding claps of thunder. She headed straight for Jake and Celeste’s bungalow. She knew that they would most likely be asleep, something that she hoped for. She needed to get to Calum. The anger that had been coursing through her had finally subsided.

  Looking up as she walked past the other bungalows that housed the others, including her own, she saw a dark, cloaked figure approaching. Her heart skipped a beat, knowing who it was. She stopped and waited for the confrontation to begin once more.

  “Nichelle,” Celeste said. “I’ve been looking for you.”

  “Why are you out here?” Nichelle asked, perplexed.

  “We need to talk.”

  “Now is not a good time,” Nichelle stated sternly. She then tried to walk past Celeste. But Celeste grabbed her arm.

  “We need to talk,” Celeste repeated, anger creeping into her voice.

  “Where’s Calum?” Nichelle questioned.

  “Calum? Wha-why?”

  “Where is he, Celeste?”

  “Ariauna is watching him. She came by and asked to watch him while I looked for you.”

  “Ariauna?” Nichelle asked.

  “Y-yes. Why?”

  “Oh no,” Nichelle said, breaking free of Celeste’s grip and sprinting toward the bungalow.

  “Wh—”

  Just then, a violent explosion rocked the island. Two small military buildings to Celeste’s right erupted in flames.

  *****

  Jake jolted awake. Another explosion rocked the bungalow. Jumping to his feet, he checked the crib. Nothing. Desperate, he ran through the rest of the bungalow, searching for his wife and son. Where are they? He rushed back into the bedroom and hurriedly changed into his battle fatigues. He then ran out into the darkness, rain pelting his face. “Celeste!” he shouted.

  “Jake!”

  Jake whirled around and saw Kylee. She and Lexis held Anyta in between them with Anyta’s arms over their shoulders. “She’s hurt, Jake,” Lexis said.

  “A piece of shrapnel from the explosion ripped through our bungalow and lodged into her thigh,” said Kylee.

  Jake knelt down to examine the wound.

  “I-it’s not bad,” Anyta insisted.

  “There are medical supplies in the bomb shelter,” Jake said as he swept his stepmother into his arms and began running toward the shelter. “C’mon.”

  Kylee and Lexis followed. Just before they reached the bomb shelter, another explosion rocked the base, nearly knocking Jake down. He stumbled but managed to maintain his balance. Reaching the bomb shelter, he punched in the code. The door slid open and the four of them rushed inside with the door sliding shut once Lexis stepped in. The lights flickered on automatically as Jake gently laid Anyta down on a cot in the first row of the shelter. The shelter was about the size of a basketball court with four rows of cots. Supplies, food, and water lined the walls.

  While Jake examined Anyta’s wound, Kylee quickly snatched a first aid kit, rushed back to her mother, and opened it. “It doesn’t look like any major arteries have been punctured. This is going to hurt,” Jake said, grabbing the shrapnel.

  Anyta nodded as she bit down on a blanket. Without much effort, Jake pulled the metal shard out of her leg. Anyta winced in pain but didn’t make a sound. The wound began to bleed but not too much as Kylee grabbed some gauze and applied pressure on her mother’s leg.

  “Clean it and stitch it up,” Jake ordered as he checked his earpiece and placed it in his ear. “Celeste. Do you copy?”

  No response.

  “Celeste. . . . Do you copy?” he asked again with desperation creeping into his voice.

  All he heard on the other end of the comlink was static. “Captain Stone, do you copy?” he asked, referring to the man in charge of the marines sent to Kwajalein to protect his family.

  Captain Stone’s voice crackled through. “J . . . ake. Where are . . . you?”

  “I’m in the bomb shelter with Anyta, Kylee, and Lexis. Have you seen or heard from Celeste?”

  “Negative.”

  “Where’s your location?” Jake asked, hearing the sounds of explosions and gunfire in the background.

  “I’m pinned down in the hangar with only three of my men. The others are . . . unaccounted for.”

  “Copy that. Who attacked the base?”

  “Not sure. But we are rec . . . ing heavy plasma fire. Firepower our other enemies on Earth don’t possess.”

  Jake froze. “Are you telling me the Gnols have attacked us?”

  The three women looked up at Jake with stunned looks on their faces.

  Jake was about to address Captain Stone again, but he heard an ear-piercing explosion in his earpiece, causing him to pull it out. Simultaneously, the floor and ground below trembled from the concussion of the blast. A light above broke away, tumbling to the floor and crashing to pieces a few feet behind Jake.

  Jake put his comlink back in his ear. “Captain Stone, do you copy?” Again, static echoed through the earpiece. “Captain, come in.”

  After a few more seconds, there was no response.

  Jake cursed and looked at Anyta, who had a pained look of fear over her face. “I’m going to find my wife and baby.”

  Anyta nodded.

  Jake grabbed an extra sidearm from the weapon’s locker within the bunker and began to make his way toward the door. Before he punched in the code, Kylee grabbed his arm. “I’m going with you,” she said.

  “No. No, you’re not,” Jake replied emphatically.

  Kylee furrowed her eyebrows in anger. The warrior in her didn’t want to be left out of the fight. “Let me help.”

  Jake sighed and placed his hands on his sister’s shoulders. “Mom and Lexis need you right now. Stay here and protect them.”

  The aggravation on Kylee’s face fell away. “Okay. Be careful,” she uttered as she gave him a hug.

  Jake then turned and left the bunker. The rain continued to pour down once he was outside. The darkness was now illuminated with sporadic fires throughout the base. Looking to his left, he saw the hangar where Captain Stone and his men were pinned down. His heart sank, discovering why Captain Stone hadn’t responded to his last communication. The hangar was completely collapsed and ablaze in flames. Jake’s eyes darted around the entire complex. Every single building was on fire. He then focused his gaze straight ahead and across the tarmac toward the beach. The bungalows in which he and his family had been staying were untouched.

  “Celeste, where are you?” he whispered to himself as he began to jog toward his bungalow, the last place he had seen his wife. He skidded to a halt when he reached the middle of the runway. There, about one hundred feet ahead of him was the dark outline of a human figure. A sense of relief poured over him after recognizing the exquisite physique of his wif
e. “Celeste!” he called out, jogging toward her.

  The figure turned around and Jake skidded to a halt just ten feet in front of her. The relief that he had just experienced thinking his wife was still alive washed away. It was as if the rain that poured over him had cleansed him of any hope for her safety. Now, he only felt hopelessness. The woman standing before him stared at him contemptuously. Her eyes glowed blue like sunlight dancing off blue emeralds in the noonday sun. While the woman resembled his wife in every way, Jake knew that it wasn’t her. Celeste always had an aura about her that portrayed warmth and love. The woman before him evoked nothing but darkness, like a black hole ready to consume his soul. “Ciminae?” Jake muttered, recognizing the face of his wife’s late mother from pictures that Celeste had shown him.

  The woman laughed maniacally. “Jake, don’t you recognize me?”

  Jake stepped closer cautiously, pulling his sidearm from the holster on his thigh. The woman continued to smirk at him with an arrogance that sent a cold shiver down his spine. There was something familiar about the woman, but he couldn’t quite remember where he had met her before.

  “Perhaps this will jog your memory,” she said, seeming to perceive his thoughts. Her crystal blue eyes then flashed red.

  Jake took a step back, and his legs nearly buckled from shock. “M-Macaria,” he said as he quickly raised the pistol.

  The pistol flew from his grip as Macaria stretched forth her hand. Immediately, Jake felt his own body become lighter and his feet lift off of the ground. Using his own telekinetic powers, he raised his hand as well to counteract Macaria’s invisible pull. The two forces converged. There was a flash of light and a concussion. The shockwave sent Macaria flying backwards into a palm tree. Jake flew backwards and landed with a thud on the tarmac, knocking the wind out of him.

  Realizing he didn’t have much time, he staggered to his feet and tried to run back toward the bunker. But Macaria’s invisible hold was too much as she too had regained her balance. Jake flew through the air toward her, trying to reach out his own arms to impede his momentum. It was useless. He flew right into the waiting clutches of Macaria. Her hand caught him, and even though she was slightly shorter than Jake, she held him in the air, her eyes red and wild with rage.

  She glared at him with abhorrence. “Finally, Jariel, your time as a mortal will soon be over.”

  *****

  “Nichelle, wait!” Celeste yelled as she staggered through the wet sand, trying to catch Nichelle.

  Nichelle was a few meters ahead of her. She ran with urgency, gliding over the mud-ridden sand, over the front porch steps, and finally bursting into the bungalow.

  Celeste caught up to her. It was completely dark. Before Celeste had any time to register what was happening, Nichelle turned and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Where’s Calum?” she asked with urgency.

  Celeste looked around frantically. “I-I don’t know. Ariauna was right here with him.” She then ran quickly to the back bedroom, calling for Jake, but he was nowhere to be found.

  Panic stricken, she rushed toward Nichelle, anger boiling over. This time, she grabbed Nichelle by the shoulders. “What’s going on, Nichelle? And don’t lie to me. You know something.”

  Nichelle lowered her head, dejected.

  “Answer me!” Celeste demanded, shaking her best friend.

  Nichelle looked up with tears welling up in her eyes. “The spy . . .” she said, trailing off.

  “The spy?” Celeste questioned, confused.

  “I’ve done something ho—”

  But before Nichelle could get the words out, a fireball exploded through the front window of the bungalow. Instinctively, Celeste flung Nichelle around her and into the kitchen before she was consumed by the fire. Nichelle crashed through the dining table, and Celeste dove forward onto her stomach just as stream of fire flew over her.

  Coughing, she staggered to her feet. “Ni-Nichelle!”

  But there was no response. “Nichelle!” she called out again as she stepped forward through the blinding, suffocating smoke. Unfortunately, Nichelle was nowhere to be found. She must have slipped out of the back of the bungalow. Celeste turned around with panic welling inside. “The shelter,” she muttered to herself, figuring that was where Ariauna would have taken Calum, and where Jake would be as well.

  She bolted through the fire near the entrance in a direct path toward the bomb shelter. The hellish scene was ablaze in flames; even the bungalows were now burning. As she sprinted to the bomb shelter, giant drops of rain pelted her face as if some invisible person ahead of her threw buckets of water over her. She was about ten meters from the shelter when a dark but familiar figure stepped in her path.

  The man’s long, wet hair hung loosely over his shoulders and his beard, which now covered his entire face, dripped. Thick beads of water rippled over his black leather battle suit, and the cape connected to his vest whipped in the wind. The figure before her clicked on his sword in his right hand. The blade erupted from its hilt, followed by red plasma energy that snaked around it.

  Celeste’s legs buckled from shock, and she fell forward onto her hands and knees, the blacktop of the tarmac shredding her palms. Hopelessness and dread tore through her like searing hot plasma. Water dripped from her hair and face as her eyes met the red eyes of the figure before her. “Father,” she uttered in a defeated tone.

  *****

  Nichelle didn’t know if the explosion that had burst through the bungalow was a blessing or not. She knew what she was about to reveal to Celeste would have ruined any chance of reconciliation with her best friend. She knew, however, that Celeste needed to know the truth about what she had done.

  She coughed through billowing black smoke as she stumbled off the back deck of Jake and Celeste’s bungalow. Within, she heard Celeste call for her. Ignoring her call, Nichelle began her search for Ariauna, assuming she was nearby with Calum. Ahead of her near the beach, she heard Calum’s cry. She darted off in his direction to a small grove of palm trees near the beach. Ariauna sat with her back against one of the trees, trying to console the child.

  “What are you doing?” Nichelle asked sharply.

  Ariauna, obviously shocked that she had been found, looked at Nichelle with a fearful expression and tears running from her eyes. “The Gn . . .” She trailed off. “The Gnols, th-they’re back?”

  Suspicious, Nichelle furrowed her brows. “Yes. . . . But you would have already known that. Wouldn’t you, Ariauna?”

  With Calum still crying and cradled in her arms, Ariauna stood up. “Wha-what are you talking about?”

  “Do not play ignorant with me, Ariauna,” Nichelle said, stepping forward to within a few feet of the Terrestrian woman. “I figured it out the day we were attacked within the canyon on Terrest. You’re the spy.”

  Calum’s cries began to subside as the trepidation on Ariauna’s face changed to arrogance as her lips curled into a pompous smile. She then turned and laid Calum down on several palm tree leaves, making sure he was swaddled snugly in his blanket. She turned back to Nichelle and clapped her hands. “Bravo, Nichelle. You figured it out, and you didn’t even have to read my mind.”

  Nichelle was taken aback, speechless for a moment. In every encounter she’d had with the petite redhead before her, she had never seen her this confident, especially knowing that she could snap Ariauna in half just with just her strength alone. In fact, she was too confident as Ariauna approached her like an experienced, skilled warrior.

  Before she could respond, Ariauna continued, “But I’m not the only spy here, am I, Nichelle? Tell me. . . . What did General Thourad and General Ochalt offer you to betray your best friend and her new human family?”

  “H-how did you know that?” Nichelle asked, astonished.

  “That doesn’t matter. Just answer the question. Oh wait, if I recall, wasn’t it peace? Peace between the Gnols and your new friends? . . . What would Celeste do if she were to find out that her longest and dearest friend, her be
st friend who helped her escape the clutches of her father, was actually the person that let the Gnols know the location of our rendezvous point within that canyon on Terrest? But you had no idea that Donald had killed the generals before their plan for overtaking the Gnol empire came to pass.”

  Nichelle had no response. There was no possible way Ariauna could have known that information. Unless. . . “Donald? You said Donald, not Dorange.”

  Ariauna laughed arrogantly. “Well, since everything’s out in the open here. . . . Yes, I was approached by Donald Garrett himself. Even though I knew of his origins from Adrian, Donald told me everything. He told me with Koroan Chast and his loyal followers out of the way, he would be the next ruler of the Gnol Empire.”

  “B-but I don’t understand,” Nichelle said, a baffled expression on her face. “You despise us. The Gnols killed your family. They’ve taken your planet, everything from you.”

  Rage poured over Ariauna like the sheets of rain dripping over her. “Don’t tell me what I’ve lost! I know all too well what I have lost. It’s because of you and your people and it’s because of Adrian Palmer!”

  “Adrian? Adrian has done everything for the Terrestrian people. He sacrificed—”

  “Don’t preach to me what he has sacrificed!” Ariauna lashed out. “I lost my mother when I was young! I lost my father! I suffered excessive horrors at the hands of Gnol men while a slave! I’ve even lost the man I love to you, a savage Gnol! Don’t tell me what Adrian Palmer has sacrificed!”

  Compassion began to replace the anger that Nichelle had toward Ariauna. For the first time, Nichelle understood Ariauna’s justification for her betrayal. With sympathy in her voice, she replied, “Ariauna, Adrian is not the enemy. We are not the enemy. Despite what Dorange Gar has promised you, he’s lying. Yes, he was once human, but power has consumed him. That’s all he craves, and he will do anything and use anyone to keep that power. He’s evil to the core, just like Koroan Chast. But he’s dead now too. We told you what happened after Calum’s birth.”

  “No. No,” Ariauna replied, shaking her head. “No, he promised. . . .”