by Mario Routi
“But Dad, how can I dream of a creature I’ve never met? Does this mean something?”
“It could mean everything and nothing at the same time. Cronus is the cause of most of the issues that concern Evil. However, in this case, it was probably just a nightmare and you should try to forget it.”
“I remember you telling me that you enjoy studying dreams and that you know quite a few things about them, isn’t that right?”
“Indeed, I am very interested in dreams. And I have had several discussions about their effects with God Morpheus in the past.”
“I wish you’d tell me more some day and teach me everything you know.”
“Certainly, Leylah, but now, if you don’t mind, I would like us to visit the Wise Tree, just in case there is something more that we might need to consider regarding this.“
Following her father to the Wise Tree, it was all beginning to feel rather surreal to Leylah. She knew that she hadn’t just experienced an ordinary nightmare and she struggled to understand what was happening to her and to find answers to the many questions spinning around in her head.
The Tree smiled at her with kind eyes. “My dear, why don’t you tell me what happened in your dream?”
Leylah repeated to the Tree everything that she could remember. When she had finished, it remained thoughtful for a moment before speaking.
“The appearance of Cronus could mean anything but he is an ever present factor in all things Evil. So, in my opinion, what makes this dream different is actually the large black lake and especially the faceless creature. So, did this creature have any features at all?”
“He was quite tall. He was enveloped in black robes from head to toe and speaking a language I have never heard. His voice and his laugh were really terrifying and - oh yes - his eyes were red.”
“Did you say he laughed?”
“Yes.”
“That could mean that an old enemy is coming back and is finding it amusing to go up against the forces of Good once again.”
“You mean via reincarnation?”
“It’s possible that it could be reincarnation but it’s more likely to be reanimation. Cronus usually only reincarnates spies or saboteurs, simply because they will need a more independent way of thinking in order to succeed. The black lake seems to indicate that this creature has come for the sole purpose of spreading death.”
“I need some time to clear my head,” Leylah said.
“Just let your mind sort through your questions on its own at this point, Leylah,” the Wise Tree advised.
“Thank you so much for your time. I will surely follow your advice.”
“Come along, Leylah,” said Turgoth. “I want to show you something you’ve never seen before”.
Leylah followed her father behind the Wise Tree, where he opened a hidden door. He indicated that she should step through it and into a garden outside the amphitheatre. Just beyond, she could see the path that led to the mines that were so familiar to her. When she closed the door behind her, it disappeared. Turgoth smiled at the look of amazement on her face and motioned with his head that they should make their way towards the mountain.
13
London
When Ricky Soblett walked out of his apartment building on his way to the mission Marcus had given him, he wasn’t surprised to find that his limousine was not in its usual space. Inside his mailbox he found a silver envelope containing a formal invitation to a charity event that would be held aboard a boat on the Thames to raise funds for an orphanage in Burma. Many Burmanese orphans would be there too.
For a moment, even he was shocked that this was to be his target. Then he pulled himself together. “Ah well,” he murmured, “it will probably be a mercy killing them. I’ll be saving them from lives of misery.”
As instructed, he took the public transport down to the river, heading for the address written on the back of the card. Once standing beside the water, Ricky looked around. There was a boat anchored close by which looked larger than the usual tourist vessel. There already seemed to be a lot of activity in front of it, with a group of Asian children being shepherded towards its entrance by women with clipboards. One very beautiful woman in particular stood out from the crowd and appeared to be very much in charge of the event. Ricky watched for a few minutes before going to the nearby coffee shop as instructed.
The moment he walked in he saw Marcus sitting at a table with an untouched cup of coffee in front of him. He was dressed like a tourist waiting to ride the London Eye close by. Marcus motioned for him to follow him into the toilets, locking the door behind them. Without speaking a word, Marcus opened the briefcase he was carrying. Inside it there were several devices no larger than mobile phones that already had active countdowns displayed on their screens. Marcus winked at him and Ricky nodded to indicate that he understood what was required of him. Marcus then closed the case and handed it to him before walking smartly out of the toilets and exiting the café.
Ricky stopped inside the café, looking out as more passengers continued to board. The neat size of the bombs meant that it wouldn’t be hard to inconspicuously spread them around the boat; it was just a question of how to distribute them for maximum effect while making sure that he himself got off safely when the explosions started. He noticed that the children all had small rucksacks on their backs. It would be relatively simple to pass amongst them and slip the devices into their bags. The media would probably brand the poor kids suicide bombers when they discovered the source of the explosions. Ricky gave an involuntary chuckle at the idea.
His experience in boatbuilding meant that it was not hard to work out where the fuel tank was and one of the devices would need to be placed there for increased efficiency and damage. There were also several lifeboats which he wanted to destroy if possible.
Choosing a moment when the gangway to the boat was particularly busy, he picked up the briefcase and walked briskly on board, waving his invitation at the women with clipboards who were checking everyone on. He had long ago learned that if you walk with purpose, people will seldom question if you have the right to be where you are not supposed to. He was happy to see that nobody was near the fuel tank. Quickly making his way over to it, he pulled the first device out of the briefcase and slid it inside through the large hole underneath the fuel cap. No one could possibly know it was there and even he would be unable to retrieve it now.
He then moved swiftly away from the tank, sneaking devices into children’s rucksacks as he moved along the increasingly crowded deck. All the bombs were timed to go off simultaneously in about ten minutes.
Sauntering to the edge of the boat as if taking in the view of the London Eye, he slipped the remainder of the bombs beneath the lifeboats, making a mental note of the one which he intended to climb into himself once the fireworks started.
The impressive looking woman he had noticed earlier had come out onto a stage area at the prow of the boat and was testing a microphone while the other women herded the children to the front of the crowd, telling them to sit cross legged so that the adults standing behind them could see clearly.
Ricky had time to study the woman more carefully as she waited patiently for the right moment to start her speech. She was athletic, remarkably good looking and younger than most of the others. Ricky felt quite sorry at the thought that he was going to have to kill her.
The microphone let out a final whine as the woman lifted it up and began to talk, introducing herself as Julia. She was a very good speaker, describing the orphans she had met on a trip to Burma and why it was so important that they had shelter and food. Ricky moved back to his chosen lifeboat and leant against it, casually glancing at his watch. Just five minutes to go.
The woman continued to talk as Ricky braced himself. Even though he knew it was coming, he was still taken by surprise when the fuel tank exploded in
a sheet of flames, sending everyone rushing and screaming to the sides of the boat. He threw the tarpaulin off the lifeboat nearest to him and shouted to some others to get in, even helping to lift in some children who he could see were not wearing backpacks and making himself look like a hero before climbing in himself and lowering the boat into the water.
Amidst the mayhem and the screaming he couldn’t tell if any of the other devices had gone off. It wasn’t until they had rowed safely away from the side of the burning boat that he realised that all the other lifeboats seemed to have escaped as well. By the time they reached the shore there were police and ambulance crews swarming everywhere, holding back the crowds and trying to work out what had happened. Children were crying and running around, but there didn’t seem to be nearly as many injuries as Ricky had been expecting. The carcass of the boat was still burning brightly on the water.
“Is everyone off the boat safely?” he heard a senior policeman ask the woman named Julia.
“Yes,” she replied in a surprisingly calm and confident voice. “Everyone is safe.”
How could she possibly know that, Ricky wondered, and how could it be true? At least some of the children must have been blown to smithereens.
He was anxious to leave the scene as quickly as possible, but couldn’t resist taking one last look at the woman. He was shocked to find that she was staring straight back at him, her face calm, even slightly amused. Suddenly flustered, he turned and walked away briskly, disappearing into the noisy crowd and heading back towards Knightsbridge.
14
Utopia
Leylah was taking advantage of the few hours left before the start of the Welcome Ceremony. She was playing outside with Bebi and Larry when the sound of galloping hooves reached her ears. Looking up, she saw Alexander riding towards her on his horse, his brown hair shining lustrously in the low morning sunlight. The closer he came the harder it was for her to breathe, as if the oxygen had been sucked from the atmosphere around her.
“Hey, Leylah!” he cried, waving wildly. “Let’s go to welcome Gregory and Anna. Then we can all go to the Ceremony together. The sight of all the spaceships coming down into the forest is always spectacular.”
“Okay,” she called back, already running to the stables for her horse. “That would be great. I’m usually down in the mines when they arrive.”
They galloped towards the Highlow Cosmodrome, the fresh, cool morning air bringing goose bumps up on Leylah’s skin and sweeping the last vestiges of the nightmare away. In the distance she could hear a quiet buzzing which seemed to come from above the treetops. She looked all around as she rode. Her years of training told her that there was no one of any size close to the entrance to the forest but, if that was so, how come she felt as if someone or something was watching her?
Alexander was just ahead of her and she dismissed her fears, wanting to enjoy this opportunity to be with him under a glorious morning sky. She could hardly see the faint glimmer of the day stars beyond the foliage as they pounded past the mouth of the forest and into the expanse of trees. After a few minutes they reached the clearing of Highlow where several others stood around the edge, keeping the landing zone clear.
“Our new spaceships are amazing,” Leylah whispered, as their excited horses snorted and fidgeted beneath them.
“It’s the combined work of God Apollo and Goddess Athena,” Alexander said. “And they have made them virtually impossible to detect. Even today, with the technology they have on Earth, the spaceships are hardly ever spotted. A few times, they’ve been accidentally caught on cameras but since no one on Earth has produced anything similar, most people dismiss it as conspiracy talk. I’ve written a book on the subject but you probably haven’t read it yet.”
Leylah laughed. “Author, fighter, philosopher... is there anything you are not?”
“A God!” teased Alexander.
I’m not sure about that, Leylah thought, feeling herself blushing hotly.
“Look!” Alexander said, grabbing her hand and pointing up through the trees. “Here they come.”
“How can you tell? I can’t see anything.”
“I have Herculean vision, which means I can see things on a different level.”
A few seconds later she, too, could see them and watched as the light spheres materialized into spaceships, descending slowly until they gently touched the ground. The doors opened and several young Orizons stepped out onto the ramp, blinking as they took in the unfamiliar scenery.
“Gregory and Anna,” Alexander called out, dropping Leylah’s hand and trotting forward, “I welcome you to the Land of the White Sun. This is Princess Leylah, the one I told you about.”
“You told them about me?” Leylah couldn’t believe that he had even given her a second thought while he was away. “All nice things, I hope,” she joked. “Welcome guys!” She leant down from her horse to shake their hands.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Princess,” Gregory said, with a slight bow. “Yes, we’ve heard many things about you, but we assure you they were all wonderful.”
“Apparently our parents were good friends,” Anna added. “We hope you’ll accept us as your friends too and we would like to thank you for volunteering to help us adjust in the Land of the White Sun, Princess.”
“It’s my pleasure, but if you want us to be friends, and I know I surely do, you’ll need to drop the ‘Princess’ and just call me Leylah.”
“Well, it’s time to go to the Welcome Ceremony everyone,” Alexander interrupted. “Let’s move.”
***
Inside the amphitheatre they led Gregory and Anna to their seats before going to find their own.
Alexander put his arm around her shoulder in a brotherly fashion and she felt dizzy from the scent of his body. All she wanted was for him to hold her in his strong arms but he seemed more concerned about getting the best possible view of the ceremony.
All eyes were on Rebecca, who stood in the middle of the stage beside the Wise Tree.
“Welcome to the Land of the White Sun and to Utopia,” she cried out, silencing the last murmurs of the audience. “Welcome to your home! I am Princess Rebecca.” She seemed to be smiling directly at each one of the newcomers. A flicker of pleasure appeared on her beautiful face when she spotted Gregory and Anna. “I would like to say how happy and proud I am to have you with us. You all have families and friends here. They will be your rock and, together with our instructors and volunteers, they will provide you with everything that you need. May you all be strong in your hearts, soft in your hands, and true in your words. And now, King Turgoth will share a few words of his own.”
Turgoth strode out onto the stage and spread his arms out towards the newcomers as if to embrace them all.
“Welcome everyone! You will learn many things here and you will learn them all to perfection. Ignorance is not allowed in our Land. Ignorance is not bliss as some say, but a painful deception. Here, we all share our knowledge equally. Because of past ignorance, we suffered wars here for thousands of years. It’s mostly thanks to an Orizon that the Sharkans, who I ruled for many years, have the Flame today. Utopia was ignorant of the unfairness that befell the Sharkans. In fact, it was only due to the inquisitive mind of Princess Rebecca - when she was still new to the Land of the White Sun, like you - that this unfairness was exposed. Thanks to the wisdom of Lady Felicia and Lord Life, things were corrected and the Gods decided to grant us all a share of the Flame. It was, you see, a new mind that solved a problem many could not even understand.
“So,” he said, turning to the rest of the crowd, “as we welcome those who are new to the Land of the White Sun, we want to let them know that fresh ideas are always welcome here.” He turned back to the newcomers. “You will have questions and we are ready to answer them. Ask! Ask and learn. Ignorance is dangerous so do not ignore problems when they arise
and always ask for a different perspective before you judge because you will never truly know all there is to know. As Princess Rebecca said, be powerful in your hearts and always speak the truth. Thank you all for coming here. I would now like to ask Doctor Afterland to say a few words.”
Doctor Afterland walked slowly to the front of the stage. “I would also like to welcome you, my children, to the Land of the White Sun. You are new here, but please know that you are the most important people to us. You will achieve many great things during your training but always remember that a life of small achievements will forever be a time of torture. A tree that only sips water for fear of running out later will never flourish like the ones that drink their fill and put down sturdy roots as a result. Do not hesitate in your support for your new friends here. They will give you as much of themselves as they can, so do the same in return. You will need soft hands to nurture the love that we are entrusting to you to pass on to the world. Over time, you will grow in your hearts and one day you may become as inseparable as King Turgoth and Princess Rebecca. Both our leaders have today spoken the wisest of words. You are blessed with wisdom of your own and the most powerful protection against the Titans is the power of knowledge. That is all I have to say; and now for a few words from our dear Bull, the Minotaur.”
The newcomers erupted into cheers for Bull, who they already had respect and affection for.
“I should be the one cheering for you,” Bull said, throwing his head back in laughter. “But thank you all. One day, we will inevitably have to fight the Titans again and it’s the strong bond that we have between us that will invariably lead us to victory. You can possess all the weapons in the world but they mean nothing if you lack a trusted friend to stand beside you. Everyone here is your true friend for eternity and you will soon find out what that feels like. We shall introduce you to a magnificent world and you will become part of it. All of you already know many things but much of what you’ll learn here will be new. This is going to be more amazing than anything you have done in your lives, so have fun. Remember, I’m always here to help if you need it.”
