“I’m on your side. Only I can save the Realms – save our people.”
“How dare you say that? This Realm doesn’t belong to you.” Ash pressed the sword against Drakon’s chest.
Drakon raised his hands, his fingers still clamped over the Onyx. “There’s no need to be irrational. Let’s talk. Let’s talk sensibly.”
“Talking won’t change the Dark War. It won’t bring back the dead. It won’t—”
“All of this happened for a reason… no one died in vain… they’re casualties of war.”
“Your time is over.”
Ash thrust the tip harder against Drakon’s chest, ripping his black cloak open. Drakon flared his hands on reflex but, as he did this, he accidently released the Onyx. The stone hit the uneven ground and bounced several times, landing between Ash’s feet. Ash dared not take his eyes off Drakon for even a second, because, if he did, the Dark Guardian would overpower him. Instead, he kicked at the floor blindly and his booted foot connected with the stone. Up into the air sailed the Onyx and over the edge of the skylight. Black light exploded around them, splintering Ash’s vision.
The stone vanished and the Hecate spun wildly.
Drakon let out a strangled cry and his face contorted. “Maksimos, he’s the one you should kill. He’s a traitor to the Guardianship.”
Ash’s shoulders jerked at Drakon’s words.
“I concealed the spells in the Book of Elements, Ash, to protect us from Maksimos.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Only the Onyx can uncover the spells.”
A memory jarred Ash’s mind of Maksimos cursing Drakon for having the stone.
“Well that’s not going to happen now, is it?” said Ash, as he glanced into the Hecate.
“Mark my words, he’ll figure out how to get them back from Oblivion.”
Ash laughed. “Oblivion is at the end of the Realms, so that’s impossible.”
“Don’t you get it, that’s why Maksimos hid the book and never destroyed it? He was waiting for the turn of the millennium, for the August Moon.”
“Do you expect me to trust you after everything that you’ve done?”
Drakon lowered his voice and said, “The Hecate must remain open until the break of dawn. That way the energy will redistribute itself and the Sphere here will no longer be in control.”
“W-what do you mean?”
“This Sphere has been controlling the Guardians and most of the Seraphians.”
“You’re lying.”
“After the Awakening, it takes control of a neophyte’s mind through their meditation.”
“Impossible!” said Ash alarmed.
“It doesn’t happen to everyone. That’s why you’re thinking clearly right now.”
Ash stared unbelievingly at Drakon. “And Maksimos?”
“It doesn’t control him either. He acts on his own – he’s obsessed with becoming the One.”
“Ye, the One, shall rule them all,” Ash recited the prophecy.
“Maksimos has always been power hungry.”
“You’re only saying that, so I’ll believe you.”
“Why do you think Maksimos showed you the ritual and never stopped me from opening the Hecate?”
“It… it can’t be,” stammered Ash.
“And Kyros told you the tale about the Realms ceasing to exist and vanishing into Oblivion.”
“The warning… Three becomes one, one becomes all and all becomes none,” said Ash. “It’s to ward off anyone wanting to open the Hecate.”
“Exactly! The Sphere here wants the Guardians to tell that prophecy, because if the Hecate is opened it’ll lose its control.”
“Then why did the Guardians help you open it?”
“They didn’t have a choice,” confirmed Drakon. “My threats of killing the Seraphians were far greater than disobeying me. Tainting the sacred event is beyond a Guardian’s comprehension, even a Guardian who’s controlled by the Sphere.”
“You’re making this all up. I don’t believe you. You want to be the One.”
Drawing his sword back, Ash aimed at Drakon’s heart but the sword never hit its mark.
“You don’t deserve to die.” Ash tossed the sword aside. “You deserve to suffer in Oblivion.”
Without warning, Ash launched himself at Drakon. Drakon’s eyes widened in realisation as Ash collided with him. Drakon staggered backward, teetering on the edge. Ash kicked his foot out at Drakon’s chest, shoving him over. Drakon flailed helplessly, toppling into the skylight where he vanished into the Hecate.
Just then a figure stepped out from the shadows.
“Well done!” Maksimos clapped slowly.
Ash turned to face him. “He’s gone… gone for good.”
“You should have believed him.”
Suddenly Maksimos lunged at Ash. Ash lost his balance and tumbled over backward. As he stood up, Maksimos charged him again. The two smashed into each other. Ash wrestled the older Guardian, but he soon realised that his strength hadn’t fully recovered from Aether depleting his energy. Maksimos overpowered him easily, hurling him to the ground. Ash fell dangerously close to the edge. Maksimos’s foot pressed down on Ash’s throat, choking him. Out of the corner of his eye, a blade glinted in the fading moonlight. Reaching his hand out, Ash’s fingertips brushed the cool bronze. Wrapping his fingers around the hilt, Ash suddenly regained his strength. The triangular symbol blazed and the energy surged into his core. His fingers glimmered and the glow moved up his arm. Ash swung his sword, stabbing Maksimos’s leg.
Maksimos reacted with a violent kick to Ash’s side that sent him reeling over the edge. Ash plunged into the skylight and the Hecate exploded in a brilliant, blinding light, sucking him into the portal.
The Hecate closed and both Ash and the Trinity sword vanished just as dawn broke on the edge of the horizon.
Epilogue
Raven lay curled up on the floor – similar to her awakening in the Under Realm. Darkness engulfed her and the only light was a tiny white speck at the end of a long tunnel. Picking herself up, she walked toward the beckoning light. Around her, the blue and purple haze swirled. Was she in the vortex again? No, she couldn’t be! This felt different. And Raven was in control of the direction that she walked, unlike the time when she had journeyed through the vortex. To test her theory, she halted, spun around and strode in the opposite direction. She proved her theory right.
But the bright light enticed her. And, faintly in the distance, a sweet lullaby floated on the air. The girl who was singing couldn’t be more than sixteen years old. As Raven neared the light, she glanced at a dagger clutched in her hand. A random thought crossed her mind that she never intended to use the weapon here, so she slipped it into her leather boot. She approached with caution, wiping the perspiration from her forehead. Raven’s hand shook slightly. Strangely, it was icy cold in the tunnel, but she was sweating profusely. The song slowly evolved into a powerful melody, reaching its crescendo just as she stepped through the opening.
Seated in the centre of a spherical chamber was a girl. She stopped singing and an eerie silence followed.
Raven stood stock-still, mesmerised by the ethereal girl.
“It took you a while to find me, Raven,” the girl announced.
“How do you know my name?”
The girl paused, “I know everyone’s name.”
“What is this place?”
The girl swept her hand out in front of her. “This place is my home.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You are here, but not physically here.” The girl pointed to a quivering vision that appeared between them.
Raven shook her head disbelievingly. “It…it can’t be.”
Laying peacefully asleep on her bed was Raven, a fur blanket covered her.
“Drakon placed you there.”
“He was trying to help me.”
“Raven, please listen to me. There’s a particular item that I need
. And it’s one that shouldn’t be in any man or woman’s possession.”
“The Book of Elements?” Raven questioned. “That book is cursed!”
The girl clicked her tongue.
Raven tilted her head questioningly.
“It’s not the book that I need. It’s more like a precious stone that I’m looking for.”
“But… but how’s that going to work, if you’re in here and I’m out there?” Raven bobbed her head at the fading vision of herself.
“You see Raven, it will work. Getting the stone to me is the easy part,” the girl said, “but retrieving it is the hard part.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Raven answered, not quite convinced by what the girl had said.
The girl added persuasively, “There’s a reward for you at the end – anything that your heart desires.”
An image of Niko flashed through Raven’s mind.
The girl wagged her finger at Raven. “Now let’s be realistic. I might be powerful, but I cannot raise the dead.”
Raven stared at her. She had read her thoughts.
“Have you not guessed who I am?”
Raven frowned, and her dark eyes focused on the girl. She seemed familiar but Raven couldn’t quite place the familiarity. Surrounding the girl an aura glowed, a soft golden hue. Raven glanced around. Even the walls glimmered gold.
The girl touched her neck with a delicate, caramel-brown hand.
Raven stepped closer.
The girl placed her hands in her lap, interlocking her fingers. Draped around her shoulders was a golden cloak. The clasp holding her cloak together had an empty space in it. The ornate stone that had once adorned the clasp was missing.
“Does this stone belong to you?”
“It does indeed.”
“Then it should be returned to its rightful owner.”
“Take this.” The girl handed Raven a small, wooden box. “Place the stone inside once you find it.”
“But… this, this stone, I don’t know what it looks like.”
“You do – it’s an emerald.”
“Like the emeralds in my Amulet.” Instinctively Raven reached up and touched the Amulet on her arm.
“Yes… but only much larger.”
Raven remembered that the oracle had an emerald in her staff. “I know where it is.” Niko could have been wrong. Perhaps the emerald was magical.
“Then it shouldn’t take you long to return it.”
A devious smile curved at the corner of Raven’s mouth. “It won’t.”
At that moment, the walls around Raven wavered, fading into the distance. “I don’t even know your name,” Raven said.
“Astra… my name’s Astra…” The girl vanished.
Drowsiness overcame Raven and she slumped to the floor.
Raven’s eyes fluttered open. She was laying on the floor next to her bed, shivering. Brushing strands of damp hair off her cheek, she glanced around. She was alone. Raven recalled the strange dream that she had had. As she rolled over, an object poked her in the ribs. When she lifted herself up, she discovered a small, wooden box beneath her.
Raven scooped up the box and pressed it to her chest. It hadn’t been a dream. And she knew exactly what she had to do for the girl.
~ The End of Book II ~
Look out for the final release in The Trinity Chronicles:
Book III – The Under Realm
About the Author
Charmaine Theron is the author of The Trinity Chronicles. A financial manager by day and a writer by night, she lives with her fiancé, her son and step-son in Waterfall, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Her debut novel, The Third Realm, is followed by her second novel of the series, The Middle Realm. Look out for the release of the exciting final novel in the trilogy, The Under Realm.
You can visit her at www.charmainetheron.com
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