Ganan stood over Myles’ unconscious body, snarling at Tyree. Tyree walked toward him slowly as he tried to calm him down. “Easy, boy, I don’t want to harm him or you.” Then keeping an eye on Ganan, he made his way over to a wall and grabbed some moss. He squeezed it and let its juices flow into a syringe as Ganan’s growl got deeper. When he was ready, Tyree approached Myles slowly. But as he tried to inject Myles with the healing serum, Ganan snapped at Tyree viciously. Tyree jumped back but held his ground as he spoke in a calm voice, “He’s sick, boy. I’m going to help him. Will you let me help him?” He didn’t know if Ganan understood him, but the animal calmed down and backed away from Myles. Tyree was finally able to inject Myles and then slipped away as Ganan continued his low growl.
Having finished his mission, Tyree walked over to the nine massive paintings. He studied them all, but the one for him was obvious. One painting was a view of Earth from space, and it pulled at him strongly. Tyree pulled a desert eagle from his bags, then stepped through the painting and was gone.
~*~
After failing to find Ganan, Kasey decided to just wait. She gave Tyree five hours to get Myles into the portal, and then she went to the temple in Suchikos. She wasn’t allowed to enter the main part of the temple so she stood on the steps and flexed her shoulders. Flames burst out into wings on either side of her, and she ascended until she hovered over the temple, then lifted her arms up to the heavens with her eyes tightly closed. She prayed aloud for all to see God’s power.
“Father, it was your will that the Sword of the Spirit be given into my hands and returned to its rightful place. None, not even Lucifer, can thwart your will. Everyone serves your grand plan. Lord, I ask you to return to me now the Sword of the Spirit so that I may deliver it to its rightful owner.”
As she finished her prayer, a bright flash of lightning struck in two places: Out in the distance to the east of Phlox, and also the palm of Kasey’s hand. The electricity shot out from Kasey, and all the people of the temple gasped. Another flash of blinding light sent Kasey tumbling to the ground, but when looked around, the sword was in her hand. The people of Phlox rushed from everywhere and began to crowd around her. Her focus was on delivering the sword, so she activated the invisibility device. Everyone gasped when she suddenly disappeared.
Kasey slipped through the crowd and took off straight for the home of the carpenter Matthan. She knocked on the door and a young boy answered. Before he could say anything, Kasey heard a female voice from inside the house. “Joseph? Are you answering that door again? Get back in here.”
The mother then came to the door and peered out at Kasey. “Well! I doubt that I’ve ever had a Miyka on my doorstep!” She pointed in the direction of the palace. “The palace is that way if you’re lost.”
Kasey replied, “Thank you, but I’m in the right place. Is Matthan home?”
“My husband? My Matthan? You need a simple carpenter?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Matthan! Come quickly, there’s a Miyka at the door for you!”
Matthan was an ordinary-looking man. He came running to the door. “Did you say there was a Miyka—” But he stopped when he saw Kasey. “Um, how can I help you?”
Kasey handed the carpenter the sword.
“I’m just a carpenter. I wouldn’t begin to know what to do with this.” The sword morphed into a book, and Matthan jumped back, almost dropping it.
Kasey reached out to help him catch the book. “It’s the words of Adonai. I’d hoped you would know what to do with it, but if you don’t, I’m sure you will someday. The Master asked me to bring it to you.”
Kasey’s wings of fire appeared, and she flew off. Though rising quickly, she could hear little Joseph call out after her, “Wow! Did you see that? She’s an angel, Father!”
Mission accomplished.
~*~
Myles’ head hurt a little as he awoke to Ganan licking his face. He laughed at the friendly Kuon and scratched the back of his neck. When he was completely awake, he noticed that he felt different. He felt whole again and he liked the feeling. Myles stood up and dusted himself, off. How did I end up back in Musterion?
Nekar sat in the middle of a room with nine different paintings. “It’s good to see you again.”
“How did I get here?”
“That does not matter, Myles. Look around you.” Nekar swung his walking stick around at all of the paintings in the room. “This time you have a choice.”
Myles looked at the paintings, realizing that some of them he’d seen before. Four of the paintings seemed like different versions of Earth. One was obviously the core of Musterion, and one was an entirely different planet that he’d never seen before. His eyes fell on the one with a massive, rotted tree that had fallen and crushed all the trees around it. He also remembered the seven-horned dragon breathing fire on an army of thousands, and finally the one with a shepherd leading a flock of twelve sheep.
Myles turned to Nekar, “It’s my choice? Which one takes me back to where I was?”
Nekar didn’t give him any answer.
“Since the one with the dragon was the one that took me there last time, that’s the one I’m choosing.”
Nekar stood and said, “Farewell.” He disappeared through one of the walls in the room.
Myles turned and called for Ganan. “C ’mon boy, let’s go back.”
Ganan whimpered while looking at the painting. Myles patted him on the head and said, “It’s okay; it’s the way back.” They both jumped through the painting.
Myles and Ganan stood in the middle of a battlefield. The armies looked just like those that were in the painting, minus the dragon. The armies hadn’t advanced on each other yet.
Ganan whimpered, looking at Myles pleadingly. “Wait for me at the tower in Caelsis, okay?”
Ganan heard that and took off, shooting straight into the air. The Kuon are normally brave. What has gotten into him?
Myles was now in the midst of a battle so he decided to take action. He teleported behind the ranks of the Drakoni and began cutting the Drakoni down. Myles killed a good fifty of them in one quick skirmish, and then the other side engaged the battle. Myles took his time killing Drakoni to be careful about the good guys charging in.
He identified the generals within the Drakoni and cut them down one by one. After just a few minutes the army of the Drakoni had no leaders left.
Myles could see the kings and queens of Soterion on horses in the distance atop a hill, overseeing the battle and directing their armies. The battle raged on every side and he saw that the Drakoni were losing badly now, without leadership. Hundreds of thousands of Drakoni quickly fell.
To the east, a volcano exploded. A massive figure shot out of it and as it landed, the beating of its wings caused soldiers to fall to the ground. The Great Red Dragon had arrived, and it stood at least fifty stories tall. Can this be the same creature as Hay-lale?
The Dragon rose up over the armies and belched fire, incinerating most of the soldiers. Tornados and walls of fire moved across the battlefield.
Myles watched the dragon’s fury, captivated, until a sword jammed into his back and he actually saw it come out his sternum. As he fell he looked around and saw the Drakoni that had done it. Myles fell to the ground and lay there watching the battle. Blood trickled from his mouth. His body began to feel cold. A tear slid down Myles’ cheek at the sight of the massacre. There was nothing he could do to change things now. Oh, how he wished that he’d accepted the Master’s offer back in the tunnels with Kasey. Everything began to blur in front of his eyes until all was dark.
A moment later Myles woke in the same spot he’d fallen. His vision was still blurry, but he could see the distorted figure of a man standing over him with a long staff in his hand. He felt a hand touching his head gently. “I heal you, Myles Callaghan. Go and sin no more.”
Myles tried to get up, but he was still too sore to move much. His vision began to clear, but by then the figure was g
one. Myles rolled over on his side to see the kings and queens of Soterion battling the Great Red Dragon. Erestar, the only one not wearing a crown, pierced the dragon with…Could it be? Yes! It was the sword that Myles had stolen from Kasey. How did they get the sword back? Myles closed his eyes and wept bitter tears. He sobbed deeply, and it was like a cleansing purge of all his ugliness. He rolled over and looked up at the sky.
Who was the man who healed me? I have to find him. I have to.
31
Misaki
Far to the east, beyond the Brugmos Sea, there was a thriving empire of many kingdoms. The Raphad who had come long ago to this continent had called it Tanniyn’erets, which meant “Dragon Land” in the old tongue. This was because the Great Red Dragon was the ruler of the land when they came here. Later on, they left and took back with them the taint of the Great Red Dragon to their lands in Drakonge. The Great Red Dragon followed them and infested Drakonge, but the Raphad never knew why the Dragon had left his own lands and come to theirs.
It turned out that many who had become slaves of the dragon had risen up against the Drakoni, led by a little girl who was said to be gifted with the power of the Creator. That little girl was now known simply as the Empress. Her name had been forgotten centuries earlier. She was of the Yaarma, but the Yaarma of Tanniyn’erets did not look the same as their Western brothers and sisters on the continent of Seven Kingdoms. Their eyes were slanted, their hair black as night, and their complexion, while not truly white, was not as dark as others.
The Empress wore a red silk robe that fell to her ankles. It was wrapped around her thin but muscular body with the left side over the right, and the robe was secured with a black silk sash. She wore split-toe socks with flat sandals made of rice straw.
The Empress sat in the arched window frame of her giant castle. Snowflakes had begun to drop from the sky earlier that day. Almost everything was covered now. For over a century her people had fought the Drakoni, and it seemed that the enemy army was endless. The more Drakoni they killed, the more came from the north to replace those that had fallen. Every day they gained ground against the Empress’ army. But yesterday they had retreated. In fact, there was no report of them throughout the entire countryside today.
The empress said a quick prayer to the Shepherd for the families of those who had fallen in battle and for those soldiers who had been wounded. As she looked up at the full moon, she saw the shadow of an owl pass under it. Owls were not indigenous to this part of Tanniyn’erets so she knew it must be him. He hadn’t visited these lands from the Seven Kingdoms since she’d been made empress. She was sure that he had news of high importance, or he wouldn’t have come.
The owl landed, and a little man about one foot tall, with a long white beard, wearing a decorated mushroom cap, stepped off it. He wore a green cloak with the emblem of a tree on the back. The Empress knew him as Graemah but to the Seven Kingdoms he was simply known as The Elder. He was the oldest, most powerful, and wisest creature on Soterion.
The Empress bowed to him as she stepped closer. “You honor me again with your presence, dear friend.”
Graemah then bowed to her. “I see that the Drakoni have withdrawn their forces. Empress, I can offer you an explanation.”
She smiled knowingly and replied, “The sword was brought to Soterion wasn’t it? By the Miyka that was not a Miyka. And the Great Red Dragon has been defeated.”
Graemah nodded. “You know of the prophecy I gave in Emerailda when I was king?”
“And there shall come a time that serpents begin to take the lands of the seven kingdoms. But hope will come with a sword brought to Soterion from another world by a female Miyka who is not a Miyka. A secret order shall be formed that will include a giant, and the giant will defeat the Great Red Dragon with the Sword of the Spirit. After these things come to pass the gambler will be healed, and he will go forth to the Dragon’s lands to find the sleeping sister in hopes of reuniting her with her brother. Then the Dragon will wake again, and the sword will be stolen, but hope will not be lost. For the Shepherd will walk the land, and he will sacrifice his life for the safety of his flock.”
Graemah looked surprised. “That is much more than I foretold.”
She nodded. “It’s the Shepherd; he speaks to me.”
Graemah touched her hand. “Then you know what it means.”
“Yes, my brother is here. He’s established the secret order. He calls it the Order of the Magi. They’re spreading quickly across Soterion. I’m prepared for the trying days that will come. I may not see him for some time still. The Shepherd tells me his heart is hard.”
“If there’s anyone who can break the proud, it’s the Shepherd. I know this from experience.”
She nodded, “Omar was always like me. Fortunately the Shepherd found me at an early age. I know Omar like I know myself. He’ll have to fall far before he’s able to admit the truth. He blames the Creator for taking his parents, and I’m sure he blames him for taking me as well.”
Then she gave Graemah a serious look. “Will you watch after him, please?”
“To the best of my ability, you’re Grace.”
She smiled at him and softly said, “That’s all that I can ask. So is the gambler on his way?”
“He’ll be here before spring.”
“Then there’s much we must do to prepare. The first things have been accomplished, and the Master’s purpose is advancing. There’s so much more to come. Finally, we’ve seen the rise of the Magi!”
Bridgeworlds: Rise of the Magi Page 30