The Minoan Legacy
Page 28
“Did she steal the book from there, too?” Maddy asked.
“No. I was instructed to help her find that. It had been buried in an ancient city. In a part of Crete that sank into the sea after a devastating earthquake. It had been sealed in a waterproof chamber and stored in an airtight room. When that part of the island sank into the sea it was thought to be lost forever. I inspired her to search for it and where it might be found. She had already read stories about the Voynich manuscript and was amazed when she realized she could read it. She used her ability as a Water Element to recover it and secret it away knowing the great value it held.”
“It’s a good thing you figured out what the bow and arrow thing was in the prophecy,” AJ said addressing Nick and hoping to hear the prophecy one more time.
“Yeah, it just came to me. For some strange reason… That was you? Wasn’t it?” Nick stared at Gabriella. She gave him a brief nod. He shook his head as if trying to clear his thoughts. “Anyway, I remembered the glyph spelling ‘hoo’ and thinking they must have meant ‘hole’ because that was the closest word to hoo in the Mayan language. But then the stories GG used to tell me as a kid ‘bout Norse mythology popped into my head.”
He shook his head as he looked at Gabriella once more.
“There’s this story about Badur and how his mother tried to protect him from any possible harm. But Loki tricked Badur’s blind brother, Hoor, into killing him with an arrow made from mistletoe, the one substance she thought so harmless she didn’t give it much thought. Anyway, seeing you blindly crawl across the floor and being so near to the bow and arrow lying there triggered the memory. Or at least I thought so up ‘til now.”
Nick glanced at Gabriella once more.
“How long did the doctor say before you get your eyesight back completely?” Miriam asked.
“Another month or so. I can see fine. They’re just sensitive to light right now.” To emphasize the point he touched the dark sunglasses one more time.
AJ swung his attention back to Gabriella. “How’d she do that again? She didn’t touch me or anything.”
“As Aether, Ligeia was able to create a vacuum, as I have stated. In your case, she removed the matter that light must travel through. Thus, it was as if you had looked directly into the sun.”
“Ahh…So that’s what it meant that I had to lose to win?” AJ asked.
“Yes. Both your life…temporarily, and your sight.”
AJ sat there lost in the memory.
“I have a question for you,” Anthony said, his leg in a cast. He had lost considerable weight and looked exceptionally forlorn. “We all carried feathers from Grace’s Dream Catcher. How did they protect us from the globes shattering?”
“Ah, the Dream Catcher.” The teens sensed Gabriella smiling. “That particular Dream Catcher was not made from the wings of birds, but from the wings of a certain fallen Shining One.”
When she didn’t speak again, Anthony sullenly asked, “You? Those were yours?”
“Yes. I’m sure you have all seen pictures depicting us with great wings. They serve little purpose for us. As you well know, I hardly need wings to move about. But that is how mortals explained how they saw us moving so freely. We were given symbolic feathers with a special protection built into them. It always made me proud to know they were put to such good use. It is said a Dream Catcher catches all harm, protecting the one who sleeps beneath it. But in this case, it repelled all harm. That’s why it wasn’t shredded when Terry made the snow globe shatter that Nick had given Grace for her fifteenth birthday.”
They all went quiet at the mention of Terry’s name. Nick began to chastise himself once more for not saving Terry when he launched himself off the floor and at Ligeia, driving her through the broken window. The others, even Anthony, tried to reassure Nick that there was nothing he could have done.
AJ shared with the others what he had heard Terry say when he realized Ligeia had betrayed him, too. And how angry he was and how desperate he was to see her die. He told them that he could hear Terry run through his options on how to best accomplish that objective. And how frustrated he was when he realized he was helpless to do anything to her.
Nick recalled the look on Terry’s face when it dawned on Terry how he could accomplish his goal when Nick told Ligeia she was powerless to get away because he wasn’t using his powers to hold her. When the room turned upside down, Terry saw those around him in jeopardy and made the ultimate sacrifice to save everyone he had grown to love.
Maddy brought Nick out of his reverie when she said, “Explain ta us again how he made the globes explode.”
Nick cleared his throat and said, “It’s simple really. He treated the water inside as if it were a type of nuclear reactor. He willed the globe to slowly heat up. After awhile, when the water hit its boiling point, the pressure was too great and the globe exploded.”
“And the panther paw thing?” AJ asked.
Nick shrugged, “Dunno. I didn’t get a chance to ask him ‘bout that.”
Nick got a faraway look in his eyes and a tear leaked down his face.
Grace leaned into him and squeezed his arm. “He made the ultimate sacrifice for us. For you in particular.”
He gave her a sad smile and a brief nod. Nick took a great deal of comfort in the knowledge that his twin sacrificed himself knowing that none of them would have survived much longer in the chaos created by Ligeia’s death throes. And it was only with her immediate death upon hitting the out-cropping of rocks that Grace was able to transform at the last second into a bird and fly away unharmed.
Anthony added, “You were having a positive influence on him. I could see him slowly change day-by-day. Especially after those times you guys had your talks. He actually said to me one day that, although he wanted it to be him, he thought you would handle it much better. He said, of the two of you, you were the one that had his stuff together. Well, you know, he didn’t quite use that word, but, you know…”
“Do you think he knew what was going to happen?” Grace asked. “I mean, he did leave you everything, and just the day before we left for Greece to confront Thanatos.”
Nick shook his head and didn’t stop until AJ asked, “So where do we go from here?”
Nick looked at Grace, who offered him her special smile, and shrugged.
Epilogue
November 2040
AJ stepped to the podium. The tens of thousands of people crowded into the park fell silent. He looked out over the sea of humanity before him and soaked it all in before he said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my great pleasure and distinct honor to introduce to you the youngest person ever elected President of the United States, Nicholas Eric Jensen.”
The multitude began to jump up and down as they screamed and clapped.
Out from the wings of the elaborate stage strolled Nick, hand in hand with Grace. Their ten-year-old son Terry held his mother’s hand, while their seven-year-old daughter, Val, held her father’s.
GG and Henry, not looking a day older than they had twenty-three years earlier, sat next to Mary and John Walker as everyone rose to congratulate the newly elected Commander in Chief.
GNMBooks.com
R. G. Peterson
http://www.GNMbooks.com
Also by R. G. Peterson
(The 8th Mayan Prophecy series)
Wind Walkers
Fire Keepers
The Minoan Legacy
Short Stories Available as E-Books:
Dreamcatcher
AJ
The Tepal
Other Novels:
Hoop Dweebs
Contact: RGP@GNMBooks.com
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