by J D Dench
Kayla kept the Portal that, in her mind, started this all. She had it hidden away and kept secret. Ryo was kept in charge of the project. He wanted to study the machine and see if he could use it to travel to other lands or even through time. Kayla didn’t like the sound of that, but she allowed his research and granted him a few guards. Ryo thought the guards were there to protect him, but Kayla mostly kept them there to monitor him and make sure he didn’t do anything she didn’t approve of. Shortly after, his Portal was destroyed in a testing accident, and he never raised the funds to build a new one.
The Portal was used one time by Kayla and Matias to travel to the other world before its destruction. There, Kayla went to Zae and locked herself in her studio. She told Zae everything that had happened and even cried over the lost necklace.
“Actually, it’s the strangest thing,” Zae told Kayla. She pulled out the necklace from under her shirt where it hung around her neck. “I woke up from a dream with a woman the other night, and this was around my neck. I thought maybe I had forgotten to give it to you.”
“Zae, you talked to her? You spoke to Dream?” She grabbed Zae’s hand. “She’s going to come after you. She’s going to ruin everything!”
“Kayla,” Zae said, her tone shifting dramatically. “Do you think I could go with you?” She looked around her with dull eyes. “I hate this world. It’s dramatic and political and greedy. It’s safe, but it’s boring. I don’t want boring. I would rather live for ten exciting seconds and die than live one hundred boring years.”
Kayla wanted to argue, but Zae made a lot of sense. As always. Also, with Zae so close, Kayla could keep an eye on her for Dream. If Dream ever showed up for Zae, Kayla would know it.
Maybe I can ever lure Dream into a trap and finish her once and for all.
Matias had attended the funeral for his partner, Eli. Eli’s wife was nowhere to be seen. Only Beth and Mary, his twin daughters, had come to the funeral with their aunt Marianna. Marianna explained that her sister had left the country and abandoned the twins with her after the death of her husband. Matias didn’t know what to say to her and left feeling worse than he had arrived.
Zae came back with Kayla and stayed where her and Matias had lived in the Chamber of Heroes, which was fixed up and made the same way Liz had left it.Kayla took over Liz’s room, which also had to be fixed up. Rizza’s Garden, surprisingly, grew back on its own. And next to it grew a large tree that nobody had planted. It was called Liz’s tree, since it stood over the garden and provided it with the perfect amount of sunlight.
Rizza’s sword and Liz’s sword were given to Leif in gratitude of his courage and honor in battle. “You forever have my thanks,” Kayla told Leif, but the Elf wasn’t happy. He never smiled anymore. Not since the death of Silvia, and Kayla was sure Liz’s death was no easier on his mind. She wished she could offer any level of comfort, but it was no use.
Working together, it still took years to rebuild the lands. BlueCrest, Minicule, the Elves, and the Dwarves all worked together to rebuild. Malkina was never explored after the initial searches. Someday, if people survived, they would hear of BlueCrest and come out. But they had to worry about their own Kingdoms first.
Kayla sat in the middle of the night staring into the darkness. She hadn’t had a nightmare in months. Matias slept soundly beside her. Zae slept soundly down the hall. But Kayla couldn’t rest. Her mind was hovering around thoughts upon thoughts.
She found that while she had lost so much, she also gained so much more. She enjoyed her journey, but there was a pit of darkness in her chest where the loss of her comrades sat heavily upon her. The last time, she had decided she wouldn’t have changed a thing. This time, there were a few changes she would have made.
She would have gotten to the Dwarven Kingdom first. She would have killed Dream herself. Or Oth’tuun. She would have battled harder and cried less. She would have saved Liz and Thero and Ti’a and Silvia and everybody else who had perished. She would have met with Azzaan sooner and tried to work something out so Demons could live alongside mortals.
They’re just like us, she thought to herself. Lillian didn’t say anything. Kayla believed, deep down, the ancient Elf just didn’t know what to say to these new thoughts. But, at the end of the day, she knew one thing. She couldn’t change anything.
They would just need to rebuild and prepare for the next threat that came her way.
Damayanti Alba looked down at his extended map of the Realm. It was up to date, showing the destruction of the small cities and the rise of the Palace, castle of BlueCrest, and Hole. It also held a larger version of Minicule and a smaller version of the Demon Lands.
They thought Malkina had been destroyed. They thought the people had been wiped out, but they were wrong. Malkina had gone toward the far reaches of Malkinian lands. That is where Malkina’s humans had gone into hiding when the Demon God had overrun the land. They had given up quickly everything they had, from homes and lands to personal possessions. Once their leaders were killed, all turned to Alba to lead them.
They called him their King. But he was more than that. He knew it from the moment they declared him their leader. A giant domed building was being constructed around their new city, a domed building in the middle of the dome. This was not a Kingdom any longer. They had given up their lands and been embarrassed for their actions for the last time. The dome would be known as the Fortress, and the smaller domed building inside would be the HQ.
Alba remembered how they had taken no part in the previous prophecy apart from the attempted murder of the holder of the Sword. And now they had nearly destroyed the Realm, and possibly the entire world. Never again, Alba vowed. It was time for a new way of life. It was time for a new action.
All citizens were trained with weapons. There were no more civilians, only warriors living their daily lives. Alba had a plan in action and he would see it out until he died. His new country would be the most dominant in all of the Realm. They ever began construction on new weapons. A ball at the end of a steel rod, known as a mace, was used by stronger individuals. Spears were made longer with sword blades on the end, known as halberts. One by one, their arsenal grew until they had an entire building dedicated to weapon research.
Alba’s vision stretched beyond the Demons. He turned his eyes upon BlueCrest, his first target. He wanted to end the ongoing war between Malkina and BlueCrest once and for all. And then, he would attack the Elven lands to punish the new BlueCrest leader. An Elf leading humans? Disgraceful! Finally, he would destroy the Dwarves for tearing down the prison Malkina had used for centuries.
They would learn when Malkina ruled the Realm singlehandedly. They would all learn what Emperor Damayanti Alba deserved when he ruled all of the lands. But that was the future. Alba knew it was too soon to rule the lands. He had steps in place. First he would train warriors as the lands built. Then he would train spies.
And then, he would take over BlueCrest.
About J.D. Dench: I am an English graduate from Northern Illinois University with a minor in LGBT Studies. I had originally pursued an Engineering degree before diverging my path to pursue my pure passion of writing. I bring a unique story-telling style to the stories I write in a manner that allows each reader to view the story for the first time in their own way inside their own mind. Farther, I use writing as an escape from my depressed mind. I still work full-time as I write and freelance edit books. I also pursue individual studies that capture my interest, including an incredible fascination into Old Norse mythology.
About XRogueMoonX: I'm a 19-year-old editor, for the past 5 years, I've always had a passion for being creative. Whether it be writing stories, or create something like a video for my youtube channel, or just a picture that I edited. That passion leads me to the path of being a graphic designer, I enjoy what I do. Creating the book covers for The Sword and The Hammer Trilogy was fun. Testing out new effects, coloring and having a shot of being a graphic designer. If there are any designs that I ca
n do, I'll do it!
From here I Will learn to be a better designer and to follow my passion.
XRogueMoonX
Learn more at jddench.wordpress.com
