Into Oblivion (Book 4)
Page 26
“Yes,” Eamon sobbed.
Do not mourn me, Eamon. I will always be with you. We will always be a part of the Great Mother.
“Though I have gained so much, I have lost many things as well. My Mother, the man who raised me…”
Your Mother will be with you always, and she will be happy in the afterlife, as will Garret.
“Tell me the truth,” Eamon said. “Garret is alive, isn’t he?”
There was a pause as the Dragon contemplated the consequences of revealing the truth. But, his son’s happiness prevailed over all.
Yes. He serves the Great Mother.
Of course! Garret was indeed the mysterious assassin. He was eliminating the puppet kings of the world, and he was doing it for the Great Mother herself.
“His work will not go to waste,” Eamon said, a sense of hope coming over him.
Honor him always, my son. It was through the actions of your aunt that your Mother was killed. Garret did as Siobhan asked, without question. He was faithful to her despite what she had asked. But, in the end, he was betrayed.
“I have forgiven him,” Eamon said. “I had a sense of what happened.”
Good. Go now. Put these thoughts aside and focus on your destiny. Grieve no longer. All will be set right. Goodbye, my son.
“Goodbye, Father. May the Great Mother bless you and keep you.”
He felt the Dragon’s presence leave him. The emptiness he felt was strong, but he knew it was there for a reason. It would drive him and inspire him, leading him and his allies to victory. For that, he would endure it.
He would remain strong until the end.
Garret pulled himself up onto the shore. As he crawled up the sand, he choked and coughed on the sea water that spilled from his lungs. He collapsed onto the sand, rolling on to his back to stare at the beautiful blue sky. He chuckled as he realized that he had been killed again. He had been run through with a divine blade, drowned, and had been resurrected for the second time.
However, his other memories made his smile fade. Everything had come back to him during his plunge into the ocean. He knew now that Siobhan was his love, and that he had killed her. He remembered plunging his dirk into her back, watching the life drain from her eyes, and hearing the laughter of her sister as he mourned.
He saw the crazed look in the eyes of his own son as the boy pierced his heart with his own blade; a blade he had given to Maebh when she was a young girl. He remembered looking into his son’s laughing face as he fell into the cold, watery abyss.
And he remembered the boy that he had raised as his own. Eamon, the Onyx Dragon.
Akharu had referred to him as Garret’s king. That would be the truth; Eamon would now be king. He would be king of North Eirenoch, or perhaps he had united the kingdoms. He did not know. Why did he not know that?
And why did the Great Mother not open a portal for him?
He rolled over onto his stomach, pushing himself up and staggering to his feet. He looked around, seeing the gradually sloping shore reach up to a carved staircase in the cliffs. He knew that staircase. He had washed up at the very southern tip of Eirenoch, near the tower of Tel Drakkar. He would go there, seeking the council of the priests. They would know who he was, perhaps, and why the Great Mother had abandoned him.
Slowly, Garret made his way up the stairs. Though he was not an old man anymore, he was tired, weary. The battle with Akharu had drained him, and the wound the demon had given him was possibly to blame as well.
Akharu.
He gritted his teeth as he thought of how the demon had taunted him. He had used Garret’s own emotions against him to try to throw him off. It had worked. Garret had become so unfocused that he had faltered and allowed the demon to defeat him.
No one had ever bested him. Ever.
Grudgingly, he ascended the stairway with one single thought in his head. It was a purpose that would consume him until he prevailed. He would hunt down this Akharu. He would destroy him forever, and send him back to Hell. He smiled maniacally as he imagined the kill.
Akharu had made the worst enemy he could have possibly imagined.
Epilogue
The Keeper wandered the plains near the former north-south border of the kingdom of Eirenoch. He sensed the remains of a great battle here; one that had marked Eamon’s first major victory. Here, the Onyx Dragon and his allies had defeated a massive army of Jindala. The Prince had proven himself to be a strong leader, and a skilled tactician.
Here, also, he had killed the shaman that the Keeper himself had brought into being. A shaman that had strayed from his purpose and fell to the temptation of power and position. Torak had become a servant of Absu, becoming a murdering, vengeful demon.
What a great disappointment.
The Keeper sat at the very spot where Eamon had destroyed him once and for all. He wept as he thought of Torak’s childhood; how he had shown such great promise, but had delved in things that even the Keeper found repulsive. He had given Torak great power, but did not give him the soul to wield it responsibly.
Torak was supposed to take his place when he moved up in the ranks. But then, he had become too consumed with darkness and hate.
That would never do.
Though Torak could never fully be redeemed in the Keeper’s eyes, perhaps he could atone for the evils committed against the people of Eirenoch.
He would no longer be known as Tyrus; that was his Jindala name. No, he would Torak again.
The Keeper stood, reaching down into the soil. He released his will into the ground, calling upon it to do his bidding. Slowly, the ground began to rumble. He withdrew his hand, stepping back to make room for the clay to rebuild the body that had rotted away.
From the dust of the Earth, Torak rose anew; naked and free of The Lifegiver’s hold.
“Welcome back, my son,” the Keeper said. “You have work to do.”
About the Author
Shawn E. Crapo lives in the great state of Indiana, where he hikes through the forests of Martinsville in search of the banshee’s lair. When he is not exploring nature, he also plays guitar, builds them, and does other artistic things. He has recently developed a love for flint knapping, and practices whenever he can.
The Dragon Chronicles
Wrothgaar’s Quest (prequel novella)
Onyx Dragon
The Ascent
King of the North
Into Oblivion