As Seb sat down next to his dad’s old partner, his hands tingled. He reached over and placed them on the Frant.
It filled Logan’s chest with the swell of a fuller breath, and he opened his eyes. He tilted his head to one side and looked at Seb. At first, his stare sat glazed like he didn’t recognise him. Then clarity lit a torch in them, and he spoke with a croak in his voice. “Seb, how are you, son?”
“Not you too,” Seb said, fighting against the buckle running through his bottom lip. “I’ve had about all I can take.”
“I’m done, Seb. My time has come. We can’t cheat death. No one can. But don’t be sad for me. I’ve done all I came here to do.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were ill?”
“I knew what you had ahead of you. I didn’t want you worrying about me.” Logan then reached across and put a hand on Seb’s face. “I knew I could hold on to say goodbye.” A moment’s pause. “And I’ve done the house up too.”
“What? You stayed alive to tell me that?”
“Hey, don’t underestimate what I’ve done. I managed to give the place a lick of paint and tidy it up a bit. I got rid of all the sand and dust. That was no mean feat.”
“You’ve held on so we could make small talk about my dad’s house? Are you going to tell me to put the dishwasher on when I get in too?”
Logan smiled a weak and crooked smile. He stroked Seb’s cheek with his thumb. “No, I’ve not. Sorry. I’m not very good at this. You’ve met every challenge thrown at you, Seb Zodo. I know for a fact your dad would be brimming with pride were he here now. If you do nothing else in this life, know that you’ve done more than many would in ten lifetimes. Hold your head high. You’re one of the galaxy’s greats.”
The buzz still in his hands as he rested them on Logan, Seb cried.
When Logan lifted Seb’s touch away from him, he resisted.
“Let me go, son. Let me be at peace. I’m ready. Let this be a celebration of us knowing each other.”
How could he plead with the man to stay? A selfish request just so he didn’t have to feel any more pain. Almost as hard as pushing SA’s empty coffin into the water, Seb stared at the creature for a second before pulling his healing touch away from him. He held his hand instead and nodded. “You go to heaven now. If anyone’s earned it, it’s you.”
Seb watched Logan nod back at him before he released his last breath in a long and weary sigh. His mouth remained open mid-exhale. His skin dulled, the life draining from him. The tall Frant’s hand slowly turned cold in his.
Chapter 56
“Shouldn’t we go back to Aloo to get your leg sorted?” Seb said as he slowed down his approach towards the chapel.
Although he walked on crutches, Bruke still managed to nudge Seb forward with his shoulder. “My leg can wait. This can’t.”
The building stood as an intimidating sight. Looming large, it dwarfed everything around it, the spire pointing up into the sky. Still and silent, Seb’s heart rate trebled to look at it. “What if we’re the only two beings here?”
“Even more of a reason to go.”
When they arrived at the double doors to enter the place, Bruke shuffled ahead of Seb and pulled one of them open for him.
Even before they’d stepped inside, Seb saw the tight press of beings in the chapel. Over half of them were dressed in the uniform of Danu’s police force. The other half were beings he’d never seen before. A Frant in uniform stood at the front of the room, looking out over the two hundred or so beings present.
At first, just one of the creatures at the back turned around to see Seb. A few seconds later, many more did the same. They parted for him, letting him through and showing him his path to two empty seats at the front.
When Seb sat down, the Frant at the lectern smiled at him before looking out over the gathered crowd, his eyes radiant.
“I had a long speech planned for today,” the Frant said. “It tried to cover all the things Logan was to all the different beings I knew would be here. A friend, a father figure, a protector, a servant … He was many things to many beings. But as I stand here now before you, I want you all to take a moment to look around this chapel to see what I’m looking at. It says more than I ever could. You measure the worth of a being by their friends. No words can come close to this.”
As Seb looked around the room at all of the beings there, he saw the same expression on every face. Sure, he saw plenty of tears, but he also saw beaming positivity despite their sadness. They glowed with the privilege of having had Logan in their life.
In spite of himself, when Seb looked at Bruke, he smiled too. Logan was right. Death didn’t always have to be sad.
Chapter 57
Bruke put his leg operation off for even longer, remaining with Seb for a few days after Logan’s funeral. He worried about leaving him on his own. The sentiment meant a lot to Seb, but truth be told, since Bruke had left that morning, he felt glad to simply sit in his dad’s old chair in front of the open fire.
With everything that had gone on since he’d last been in Danu, he felt ready for a rest. Depression or exhaustion, he couldn’t tell. Either way, he needed to give it time. As he eased back in his dad’s comfy chair, the flickering fire hypnotising him, his eyes lost focus.
Then it hit him. Much like the visions the woman in white had put into Seb’s mind, he saw her. Although this time, not his mum. SA.
The shock of the vision pulled Seb back into the front room in his dad’s house. He couldn’t see SA any more. She’d been wandering across the stalt desert on Varna, blind and lost. It couldn’t be. She hadn’t gotten out of the palace. Just wishful thinking, nothing more.
Seb’s heart ached, and he focused on his breaths to try to ease the lump in his throat. SA was dead. Whether he wanted to or not, he had to accept it.
The front door then rattled and opened. It snapped Seb from his spiralling thoughts. No doubt Bruke had forgotten something. He called out, “What have you left behind?”
But Bruke didn’t reply.
The door closed gently, cutting off the sound of the fierce wind outside.
Hearing footsteps in the hallway, Seb pushed off against the chair’s armrests and got to his feet.
As the steps drew closer, Seb’s world slowed down and he clenched his fists. Surely Bruke would have spoken by now. While biting on his bottom lip, he walked to the living room’s door, held his breath, and pulled it open.
Time stopped as they both stared at one another. Butterflies in his stomach, and his chest feeling like it could burst as his entire being swelled, Seb finally said, “SA?”
The brilliance of her bioluminescence shone with even more radiance than he remembered. She had cuts and bruises all over her face from where the palace must have fallen on her. They did nothing to mar her beauty. She smiled. “Hi.”
The voice he’d always heard in his mind, but much richer … fuller … celestial. “You’re talking!”
While scratching the top of her head as if shy in front of him, she looked at her feet. When she lifted her gaze again, her cheeks flushed as she said, “Is now a good time to start that life we planned?”
The end.
Thank you for reading Prophecy - Book Seven of The Shadow Order.
While this is the end of Seb’s adventure, the Shadow Order Book Eight: The Faradis, is coming soon. It’s Reyes’ story of how she lost her father. It also follows SA from the moment she blew up Enigma’s transmitter and shows how she got away with her life. If you’d like to be notified when it becomes available, you can sign up to my spam-free mailing list HERE
Want more of the Shadow Order? Reyes becomes an important member of the Shadow Order from book five onwards. Get to know her in 120-Seconds: A Shadow Order Story - available HERE
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If you’ve enjoyed The Shadow Order, you may also enjoy my post-apocalyptic series - The Alpha Plague - Book 1
The Alpha Plague - Available Now
Masked - A Psychological Horror
SOMETIMES IT’S BETTER TO NOT KNOW WHAT’S UNDERNEATH …
Jacob Davies is an alcoholic who’s been sober for twenty years. When he watches his dad lose his battle against pancreatic cancer it sends his life into chaos and the cravings return stronger than ever. Lost in his grief, he starts to see visions of a masked man that no one else can see. A man who knows things Jacob is yet to find out. A man who has answers to questions Jacob didn’t realise he had.
Lucy, Jacob’s wife, stood by him the first time he fell into alcoholism. As he starts to drink again, she makes it perfectly clear she won’t do it a second time. Not now they have two teenage children to protect.
The visions and Jacob’s grief send him on a journey that leads him to the brink of losing both his family and sanity. As he tries to hold everything together, maybe his only way out is to understand why he’s seeing the masked figure ...
... Although maybe it will make everything a hell of a lot worse.
Masked is a psychological horror about grief, addiction, and deceit.
Masked is available to buy HERE
Praise for Masked
5 Stars *****
I was not prepared for this novel. It brought out so many mixed emotions. Michael had done it again with a great read.
5 Stars *****
This one is as good as any horror written by King or Koontz.
5 Stars *****
This novel blew my mind away!
About the Author
Like most children born in the seventies, Michael grew up with Star Wars in his life. An obsessive watcher of the films, and an avid reader from an early age, he found himself taken over with stories whenever he let his mind wander.
Those stories had to come out.
He hopes you enjoy reading his books as much as he does writing them.
Michael loves to travel when he can. He has a young family, who are his world, and when he’s not reading, he enjoys walking so he can dream up more stories.
Contact
www.michaelrobertson.co.uk
[email protected]
Also by Michael Robertson
Masked - A Psychological Horror
The Shadow Order
The First Mission - Book Two of The Shadow Order
The Crimson War - Book Three of The Shadow Order
Eradication - Book Four of The Shadow Order
Fugitive - Book Five of The Shadow Order
Enigma - Book Six of The Shadow Order
Prophecy - Book Seven of The Shadow Order
120-Seconds: A Shadow Order Story
The Alpha Plague: A Post-Apocalyptic Action Thriller
The Alpha Plague 2
The Alpha Plague 3
The Alpha Plague 4
The Alpha Plague 5
The Alpha Plague 6
The Alpha Plague 7
The Alpha Plague 8
Crash - A Dark Post-Apocalyptic Tale
Crash II: Highrise Hell
Crash III: There’s No Place Like Home
Crash IV: Run Free
Crash V: The Final Showdown
New Reality: Truth
New Reality 2: Justice
New Reality 3: Fear
Prophecy: A Space Opera: Book Seven of The Shadow Order Page 17