"Where does the black ash go?" Charlotte looks over at Nick and notices how angelic he appears, with his long white hair glowing against the red hue sky.
With a pause of silence then a quick stroke of his goatee he says, "We call it the void. Plain and simply put; we know nothing about it, not even where it is in relation to our own realm. That is why it's called the void.
"Wow!" was all Charlotte had to say.
"Now you see why we must train and practice with urgency."
"Okay, so how do you know when someone is trying to get back?" and as soon as she is finished asking her question, a large bright light shines straight into the sky, with rays that look like it goes on forever. Even though it appears to be coming an impossible distance away, it seems to be just over the mountain range.
"There you go, ask and you shall receive. Are you ready to get in there?" With a small look of excitement on Charlotte's trusting face, they are off.
Miles over the Atlantic Ocean the new student is in astonishment as she gazes upon the enormous Egyptian Pyramids from such a far distance away. As the mentor and apprentice soar in closer, they notice a very large government operated crane in the center of some ruins, as if the machine had just moved something quite heavy. Making their swift descend to the ground they come upon a fellow spirit that has been waiting for their arrival.
"Ahh, Sir Nicolas!" says a man jokingly in a noble British accent as he approaches.
"Philip, don't call me that," Nick says a little embarrassed.
Charlotte looks over at the hippie looking mentor and shockingly asks, "Are you knighted?"
"No," was his only answer. Then he gives a pleasing smile and continues to introduce the two. The newly acquainted friend named Philip, has always been a devoted messenger to The Order of Light.
"Alright now, back to business," Nick sternly says, "What information do you have for us?"
"The ones lifting the fallen pillar were talking of an archaeologist; Professor Amanda Lynn Rogers."
"And did they find anything?"
Philip tells Nick that one man saw something in the hole, next to the fallen pillar that killed a student digger. When the man saw the professor by her tent later, she had the artifact with her. "He said they were on their way back to the United States," Philip finished telling him.
"And the incursion came from the new spirit?"
Charlotte asks her new mentor; "Isn't it kind of sudden for him to attempt that soon?"
"It's a complex process, which even skilled spirits would need some time to concentrate," says Philip, "and no, it wasn't the new spirit. Look in the hole."
As Nick and Charlotte descend into the hole, they notice the remains of black ash. "Brutal," was all Nick said.
Are you saying that Mack and Brutal were involved in this?" questions Philip.
"No, I think this guy stumbled onto the fragment of key and Brutal just happened to be around when he did." Nick then turns to Charlotte and says, "Do you see that black stuff?"
"Yeah, so that's what you were talking about."
"I'll tell everyone on my side of the playing field," Philip says, with his tone no longer in playful spirits, "Is this really where they hid it?" Nick says nothing, as if the silence is all the answer he'll need; and with that, Philip and his team are off.
"Ok, what was that all about back there?" Charlotte asks as they begin their trek back. "I'm assuming that Mack and Brutal are the names of people living in this realm."
"They are. Mack being the leader of a dark sect, and Brutal the former Zodiac Killer is his right hand."
"And what is this key?"
Nick begins to tell the story of how long ago, someone had created a key. The purpose of the key was to establish a doorway to the 1st realm faster and easier than just trying to cross over by mere thought alone. The portal would end up being bigger than anyone could ever imagine. Before the key could be used, the Order of Light was successful in stopping the rouge spirit. Due to the fact that the Order of Light could not destroy the key themselves, they broke it into three pieces." Each piece was hidden in the living realm," he says, making it much harder to obtain, and the friction in the energy field would alert them if anyone was to even try. He continues to tell of how the locations were revealed thousands of years ago, and how the order did all they could to protect the key.
Only two pieces were compromised. Their locations were Atlantis and Mount Vesuvius outside of Pompeii. The battles that took place put off so much uncontrolled energy that both cities were destroyed. In Atlantis, the piece was hidden below the city. Before the battle even began, the spirits that were now in the catacombs below the metropolis were already putting off too much power. When the battle began, that momentum grew until it started to rupture the cavern walls and water began to spill in. Although the Order of Light was able to stop the retrieval of the piece, it had caused the giant island of Atlantis to sink into the sea, never to resurface.
In Pompeii, the battle took place inside the mountain. Again, the energy released by the spirits penetrating the living realm caused the mountain to violently shake. Once the battle began, the former quiet peak became an exploding volcano. One more time, the Order of Light was successful in protecting the piece of the key. However, it did cost thousands of lives. The third piece has remained hidden. "Until now," finishes Nick.
"So where is this third piece?" asks Charlotte.
"It would seem this Amanda Lynn Rogers has it and doesn't know what it is exactly."
"If everyone knows these two locations then why haven't they gone after them?"
"There is no point in going after them if they don't know where the last one is." He points out, "We would be there to stop them again."
"Then we must get to that archaeologist," says Charlotte.
♥♥♥♥♥
The two have returned to the council at Delphi with the news of what was found. "There are rumors that it was in Egypt at the Giza Necropolis," Gandriel tells everyone, "Gilfarn had told stories." She turns to the wall of spirit pictures and walks to the living painting of an old troll, "Will you please join us and tell us what you know."
As the troll spirit dematerializes from the painting, Charlotte asks Nick "Is that how you knew it was there too?"
"Gilfarn would tell me the same tales when I first came here." Nick tells her.
After Gilfarn materializes in a cloud of smoke and then into his solid form, he looks directly at Nick and asks, "Did you get to see anything?"
"Nothing like a chamber or shrine like you had told me of before," Nick tells his old friend,
"When I served on the council, there were agents who said dark spirits would try to bargain their way out of exile to the void," Gilfarn goes on with all listening anxiously to his every word, "Many would give a location of the final piece of the Ragnarok Key. They would say Egypt, but of course, it was never looked into or accepted into account."
"Jake, we want you to go to this Amanda Lynn Rogers and keep an eye on her." Hazel the witch says to him, "If Mack and Brutal know that the lost piece is found, they could be going after her." Immediately Jake is on his way to the archaeologist.
"We need to deal with this issue." Zenon then turns to a guard in the form of Sobek the crocodile god and says, "Assign a squad of soldiers to Atlantis and Pompeii."
Chapter 8
Back in the United States
Mandolyn awakes to the smell of French toast, bacon and freshly brewed coffee. Her mouth waters as she takes in the delightful aroma and she thinks to herself how fortunate she is to have such a wonderful man who truly cares about her. She looks over at the nightstand where the superman clock sits and notices that it is already 9am. She gives a little smile as she sees the bouquet of red roses and an empty bottle of wine sitting on the dresser next to the couple's bed. On the carpet are her bra and panties and Paul's boxers. She gets out of bed and picks up the undergarments that were taken off in a heat of passion. She grabs her silk robe and heads downstairs
with a ravenous appetite. As she approaches the kitchen she is welcomed to a beautiful sight: Paul standing in his Captain America apron with a big grin on his face.
"There's my beautiful lady," he says as he walks to the table with a pot of steaming coffee. After placing the morning java onto the table, he then pulls the chair out for his love.
"You're so good to me baby." Mandolyn leans in to give her man a passionate kiss.
"I just know I'm a lucky man; and I'm going to make sure I do everything I can to show you how much you mean to me."
As the happy couple enjoy their hearty meal they notice that snow is gently falling outside the kitchen window. Mandolyn begins to daydream about their upcoming ski trip to Tahoe. They will be staying at the Inn where Paul had proposed to her last year on their winter vacation. She dreamily thinks back to that evening. They had just spent the morning on the slopes, and then enjoyed a relaxing soak in the private hot tub for just the two of them. After that, the two played some craps at the casino, followed up with a dinner and comedy show. The surprise came later when Paul put his plan in action. It was Christmas Eve and the two had planned to exchange a gift by their rooms' cozy fireplace. All the suites at the Inn were adorned with a small decorated tree for the patrons to enjoy during the holiday. The mood was set and the gifts were exchanged. Mandolyn had bought Paul a watch he had been eying for the past few months but didn't want to splurge on himself. She even had the beautiful piece engraved that read: I'll love you till the end of time; Always yours, Mandolyn. When it was her turn to open her gift she had no clue what it could be. Paul knew that if he wrapped the ring up in just the dainty box it came in; she may know that it might be a piece of jewelry. He decides to place it in a big hat box to throw her off. Placed inside the octagon shaped box was a babushka doll. When she opened the brightly painted figurine, inside was an engagement ring. Paul then got down on his knees and popped the question and she said yes faster than she had ever answered anything in all her life.
She snaps back to reality when the clock chimes and even though it is a Saturday, she needs to take the artifact into the University and do a little work. Thankful for the breakfast surprise, Mandolyn clears away the dishes and quickly loads the dishwasher, while Paul places a small bowl of milk outside for a stray cat that has been coming by.
"Babe, did you say that you were going to the gym today?" Mandolyn asks.
"I have a judo class at ten and then I was going to stop by Pimé's Garage to get an oil change."
"Would you mind stopping by Dina's bakery for some Italian bread since you'll be in that direction? I'm planning on making lasagna tonight."
"Is there anything special on the dessert menu?"
"You're all the dessert I need," she jokingly replies, "but if you'd like, you can grab some custard doughnuts."
Paul and Mandolyn have left to take care of Saturday morning business. On the drive to the University she notices strange things. There appears to be a tree that is moving on its own. She shakes her head in disbelief and thinks to herself, did I drink that much wine last night? Shrugging it off, she turns up the volume of the tunes she's listening to and begins to sing along. Pulling into the parking lot she runs into a good friend and fellow teacher. The two have a brief chat and then go each other's way; Mandolyn to her office and her friend heads on home. As the archaeologist enters her workplace she glances at the picture of the dig she was on with Scott before he passed away. The portrait hangs on the wall behind her large oak desk. She takes a seat and grabs the hand carved pen that was given to her as a present from Paul. She jots down a few notes and then places the wooden box containing the artifact that Scott found onto the desk. She turns on her computer and as it is gearing up, she takes the trinket out of the box and runs her fingers across it, feeling the texture of the treasure. She then places it back into the box but leaves it open so she can still see what it looks like as she writes an e-mail to the museum describing what it is and all the other official details. She feels a little better knowing the museum will be giving the credit of the find to Scott.
All of a sudden the picture hanging on the wall behind her is knocked to the ground. She notices in her peripheral view that a handsome soldier with angelic wings is battling a Minotaur. The soldier shifts his wings and sends the beast flying through the air. The horned man-bull gets up and charges at Jake with his horns down, hoping to impale the hero. Jake spreads his wings and soars over the bull and lands behind him, all while Mandolyn looks on in disbelief.
The soldier forms two hand guns and begins to fire at the horned beast. The Minotaur raises his muscular arms and uses them as a shield against Jake's attack. He rushes his assailant, smashing him square in the body; sending him through a long bookshelf that Mandolyn is using for a divider in her large office. The shelf gives a little sway as Jake goes through it and lands on the floor next to the teacher's couch she uses for naps during the day. A custodian walks past her office door and looks through the window at Mandolyn starring off into an open and empty room. He brushes it off as a thinker deep in thought, never realizing what the young woman is actually looking at. She keeps watching as the winged soldier and the Minotaur now throw punches and kicks at each other, even some knees and elbows land on the two combatants. She thinks to herself that there is a paranormal mixed martial arts fight happening in her office.
The mythological beast tosses Jake across the room once again, but does so in a way that Jake is facing him as he flies through the air. The angelic soldier sprouts his wings as well as manifests two hand guns again. As he slows his speed with his wings, he starts shooting at the Greek monster, this time hitting him and backing him up. The bull forms a javelin and hurls it at the soldier but misses. Mandolyn is shocked when she sees the long spear go whizzing by and through the wall behind her. Then the two clash swords, the energy from the impact is great enough to push a coffee mug that she had left on the table in front of the couch, knocking it off and cracking on the tile floor. The Minotaur swings his sword, but Jake ducks under it and comes back up with an upper cut that wobbles the mammoth bull-man.
As the fight is taking place, a fellow teacher detects that Mandolyn is in her office and stops in for a moment. "It's so good to see you back Mandolyn, I'm sorry to hear the sad news about Scott," the teacher says as the soldier tosses the Minotaur straight through her body. She gives a slight look of disturbance but passes it off as a touch of heartburn. The two women talk for a brief moment and Mandolyn thinks she is going out of her mind, since only she can see the battle taking place. After a few more words back and forth, the friend takes her leave and Mandolyn looks back at the fight as if it may just be a movie playing on a TV. She looks around at her office, and thinks that if this was real, there would be a mess everywhere, and yet she knows what she looks at is true. She did not drink that much alcohol so this is not a hallucination; she just can't believe that something like this could ever really happen. It has always been a theory of hers that we as a race still don't know all the wonders of our own world, and this just may be one of them.
The Minotaur stands in front of his adversary; manifests a giant hammer; then swings it down, but misses the angelic trooper. Jake puts his hand on the materialization and uses it to prop himself up high enough to kick the massive beast in the face, sending him back and vaporizing his construct. Jake has the advantage now that the monster is stunned, he picks him up and throws him through the wall. Mandolyn expects the wall to crumble under the sheer mass of the Minotaur, but nothing happens, the beast just disappears. She sees the soldier whose wings are no longer there, turn and face her as if he was going to speak to her, but the dark spirit comes through the wall and begins to fight with the GI again returning the favor, sending Jake through the opposite wall. The giant Minotaur looks to Mandolyn standing at her desk and notices the piece of key in the box. He takes two steps in her direction when all of a sudden she sees what looks like imaginary bullets coming through her ceiling, followed by the angel with
wings extended, gliding him down to the ground, "You will not hurt her!" he shouts at the Minotaur. When he is within striking range, the G.I forms a grenade launcher and fires at the beast. The Minotaur is able to put up his defense but the impact of the explosion sends him flying through the wall and almost a full fifty yards away.
"This can't be real," Mandolyn says in disbelief.
Jake realizes that Mandolyn can see him because she has touched the fragment. The winged soldier gives a quick introduction and then stresses the urgency for her to take leave with him.
"Go with you where?" she shakes her head no, "I have far too many things going on and I can't just up and leave." Jake tells her why the Minotaur was here and what he was after. He mentions that the wooden box somehow prevents them from just grabbing the key. "Then I just keep the box closed. You don't understand; if I don't take this to New York, Scott will have died for nothing and I can't have that." Wishing that this wasn't happening but understanding that she should probably take the issue to heart, they begin to leave the office. In the haste, she runs to her desk; slams shut the box lid with the key still inside; picks it up; and then takes it with her.
"We must move fast, he will be back any second now." Jake continues to convey the urgency and keeps trying to rush the woman.
She grabs her purse and everything she can on her way out and watches the winged soldier walk straight through the closed metal door of her office. She has to grab the knob and open the door herself, and then rushes down the long hall.
The Minotaur begins running back through the window lined wall to find they have already left, and they have taken the key fragment with them, he immediately makes his way out to the parking area. Once in the open, he begins to look around for the woman and the soldier. It being the weekend, there are not many cars around to block his view and he spots then quickly.
The 2nd Realm Book One (The 2nd Realm Trilogy 1) Page 4
