Rinne saw the unconscious elve she had seen before and stopped to help her. The other three stopped too.
"Go," Mavok shouted to the other two. "We will help here. You make sure the rest get away"
Zalon and Alack hurried off and Mavok picked up the woman before stumbling forward and dropping to his knees. Rinne screamed as she saw an arrow protruding from his back. She turned to see some elves running towards them and she recognised Nate.
"Nate, what are you doing?" she shouted.
Nate stopped and looked shocked to see them. "Rinne, Mavok. We have come to save you," said Nate.
"By destroying the place?" Rinne shouted at him.
"You were being held captive, we had to act," said Nate.
"We were not captive, we are welcome to live here. We looked for you, but no-one could find you or the others"
Nate fell silent for a moment. "You were not captured?" Nate asked.
Rinne looked to Mavok who was now laying upon the floor groaning. The woman he had dropped was no longer breathing and the flames were getting nearer.
"No! Now you have destroyed our new home," Rinne was furious but there were more important things to focus on.
"But, she told us that many had been killed," said Nate.
"Who did?" Rinne asked though she knew who he was talking about.
"Amy, we saw her and she filled us in with what had happened," said Nate.
The fury within Rinne rose. "Help me get Mavok out of the mountain, we must leave now," Rinne told him.
Nate nodded and with another elve they picked up Mavok and dragged him towards the entrance.
Rinne looked around as they made their escape and saw that most had gotten away with the rest close behind. Bodies lay strewn upon the floor some with wounds and others with the obvious signs of being trampled in the escape.
Just as they neared the cave entrance Rinne spotted the boy Tomas walking back into the cave, she stopped him as he tried to run past.
"Where are you going?" she asked. "We have to get out of here"
"I can't find my cat anywhere," said Tomas.
"I'm sure it got out and is safe," said Rinne, knowing they did not have much time before the fires cut them off from the entrance.
"No, he kept escaping so I locked him in my room," said Tomas.
"I am sorry then," said Rinne.
"We have to go," said Nate.
"I am not leaving without Nico," said Tomas and he tried to get past Rinne. She sighed and then looked around, noticing that they were not far from the boy’s house.
"Take Tomas and Mavok, get yourselves as far from the mountain as possible," Rinne said to Nate "I will get the cat and meet you outside"
"Make sure that you get him," Tomas called out as Rinne turned towards the house.
When she got there she could see the flames were close and Rinne could hear the cat crying out, she broke down the door with her power and the cat was sat by the door looking at her. Rinne bent down to pick it up but received a scratch on her hand and the cat ran off towards the mountains entrance. Rinne sighed and headed in the same direction when she saw Amy standing by one of the houses. Amy saw her coming and smiled, then disappeared behind the house. With a final look towards the exit, Rinne could just see Mavok who was now being carried out of the mountain. She headed for Amy.
chapter twenty-four
"Amy," Rinne shouted in anger. "Where are you?"
"Come and find me," Amy responded and then laughed.
"You did this, you killed all these people," Rinne screamed.
"You have done worse," said Amy who was standing upon the roof of a house.
Rinne looked at her. Then sent out a wave of energy. Amy deflected it with her own and then jumped down with a sword in her hand. Rinne had little time to bring her own sword up before Amy attacked.
"You are a little pain do you know that," Amy said as she swung her sword at Rinne.
With the little training that Rinne had received, the best that she could do was block the blows. Then Amy unleashed her own power at Rinne, who was too slow to defend herself. She felt the force blow into her.
"You always saw past my innocent act," said Amy. "How?"
The breath knocked from Rinne, it took her a moment before she could respond. "The way you looked at Mavok, there was no innocence there," said Rinne. "There is no good in you"
"Well you don't sound like that beast in its cave who seems to think that there is good in everyone," said Amy with a smile and she released another wave of energy into Rinne. This time, it threw her back into a wall.
"The guardian knew you, he could see the evil within you," said Rinne as she got back to her feet and ran towards Amy holding the sword up. Amy blocked the blow, twisted her blade and sent Rinne's sword to the floor.
"Well, precious Mavok seems to like me. More than you know, I think he may even love me," said Amy and she laughed.
Rinne roared in anger and pummelled Amy with her power. Blow after blow that pushed her back but Amy recovered and ran off towards the entrance as flames began to lick the walls around them, the wooden roofs making it easy for the fires to spread.
Rinne ran after her sending a small wave that knocked Amy off her feet and to the floor. "He doesn't love you" Rinne shouted at her.
"Maybe not," said Amy as she rolled over onto her knees. "Maybe I should just kill him"
"I won't let you," said Rinne.
"Rinne," said a voice from the mountains entrance. "Amy, what is going on"
Amy smiled at her and then turned to Mavok. "Thank goodness that you are here," Amy said to him. She was putting on a terrified voice that angered Rinne. "Rinne has gone mad, she did all this. Killed all those people like she did on the human lands"
"That is not true," Rinne screamed.
"Rinne?" Mavok asked he sounded weak and Rinne saw that the arrow still protruded from his back. "Tell me this isn't true"
"It is not, I told you what she is like. She is lying to you," said Rinne.
"Not this again. Rinne, I told you that Amy is not like that and has no ill will against you," said Mavok.
"Why won't you believe me?" Rinne cried.
Mavok moved in front of Amy, blocking her from Rinne's view.
"We must get out of here, then we can talk about it," said Mavok.
Mavok cried out in pain and then Rinne saw a dagger held to his throat.
"You should have believed her," said Amy.
Rinne stepped forward.
"No closer or I’ll end him," said Amy.
"Amy, why are you doing this?" Mavok asked.
"Because the power of the guardian will be mine and I needed to get rid of the rest of you," Amy replied.
"The power is not yours. We cannot handle such power," said Mavok.
"You did all this for power?" Rinne asked.
"Oh your mind is so simple Rinne, there is more to it than that. If you were not so suspicious then I would have let you join me. But you are more trouble than you are worth"
"Amy, let us talk about this," Mavok pleaded and then he cried out in pain again. Rinne could see that she was twisting the arrow lodged within his back.
"I am done talking, now this mountain is empty and the guardian is stuck here within the flames. I will absorb its power as the flames burn it to ashes," said Amy.
"Rinne! Get out of here," Mavok shouted to her.
"I am not leaving you," Rinne responded and the tears ran down her face. She could feel the heat from the fires getting closer to them.
"You must go, save yourself," he pleaded with her.
"Touching, I guess you do love her after all. Such a shame but at least you can die together," said Amy.
Mavok made a move and Rinne screamed in terror as he twisted around and grabbed hold of Amy's neck. Rinne ran over.
"Rinne, go," Mavok shouted at her.
Rinne looked at his face, where the dagger had been, it had sliced across his eye as he had turned around.
&nb
sp; "We can all go," Rinne said to him. "Leave her here"
"It wouldn't be right, she needs to answer for her crimes," said Mavok.
"I will kill you all for being traitors to our kind. The humans must pay for what they did to us, why can none of you see that?" Amy demanded.
'Leave her here with me' the guardian’s voice spoke to them both.
"She wished you to harm great guardian," said Mavok.
'There is nothing that she can do to me now' said the guardian.
Mavok looked conflicted and Rinne grabbed his other arm.
"We should do as the guardian commands, we need to get out of here," she said to him.
Mavok had made up his mind with a nod and then dropped Amy to the floor. "Come, let us go," said Mavok and he took her hand leading her towards the entrance.
Just as they reached the mouth and could smell the fresh air blowing in Rinne heard a scream of rage coming from behind them. Rinne pushed Mavok out of the mountain and turned to see Amy running towards them with her sword in one hand. The other raised ready to release her essence at them.
Rinne steadied herself and called everything to her, all the sadness, rage and loss and called forth her power into a massive wave that blew out of her and headed towards Amy. It hit her and then it expanded to encompass the mountains entrance. A great tremor passed through her and she turned to run away as chunks of the mountain began to fall. Mavok appeared and pulled her along as the mountains entrance caved in, barring it with giant boulders. A dust cloud plumed out and covered them all.
chapter twenty-five
The dust settled and they saw that the mountain was now blocked, there was no sign of Amy. Rinne breathed a sigh of relief then turned to Mavok. Blood dripped down his face and he had one eye closed.
"I am sorry," he said to her.
Zalon and Alack hurried over. "What in the world happened in there?" Zalon asked.
"It was Amy, she tricked our people into destroying the mountain," said Rinne.
"But why?" Alack asked. "We lived there in peace"
"She wanted the power of the guardian and figured that the only way to get it was to cut the guardian off from the rest of us," said Rinne.
Mavok fell to the floor and Rinne cried out then dropped to her knees.
"So she is still in there?" Zalon asked.
Rinne shook her head. "I don't think that we have to worry about her again," she said.
More tears ran down her face as Mavok lay upon his side.
"He needs help," Rinne said to the elders.
"We can do it, hold on," said Alack.
Zalon and Alack knelt down beside her and began to whisper something that Rinne could not make out. She screamed when Zalon pulled the arrow from Mavok's back and then saw that the wound was healing. A blue glow beamed from their hands over Mavok's body and the look of pain receded from his face.
"There is nothing we can do for the eye. It is beyond our healing power," said Zalon.
"But he will live?" Rinne asked.
Zalon nodded and Mavok stirred.
"Rinne," he spoke with a weak voice.
"I am here," she responded.
"I am sorry for not believing you," he said and opened his good eye to look at her.
"You believe me now, though?" Rinne asked.
"More than that Rinne. I love you," he said, smiled then fell unconscious.
"He needs to rest," said Alack.
"Let us make a camp here and work out what we should do next," said Zalon. They tried to get Rinne up but she refused to move, instead she lay down next to Mavok and put her arms around him and placed a soft kiss upon his lips.
epilogue
Zalon sat in front of a fire with Alack next to him, it was night on the outside and cold.
"How many did we lose?" Zalon asked.
"We will never know for sure. We never counted how many people lived within the mountain," said Alack.
"What about the guardian?" As if it had been waiting for their thoughts the guardian spoke to them both.
'Do not worry about me. This is how the story played out' it said.
"What will you do?" Zalon asked. "Can you get out of the mountain?"
'There is no need, my interference in this world has caused this yet again. I think that it is time for me to go back to sleep. It is best for all elves' said the guardian.
"Then we wish you well," said Zalon.
"We will see each other once more builder. I will look forward to it'
The guardian left their minds.
"Well that answers that one," said Zalon.
"I agree," said Alack. "What do we do now then?"
"We must rebuild, a new settlement. The grandest that this world has ever seen!" said Zalon.
"It will take some time to do," said Alack.
"Time is something that we have plenty of my friend," said Zalon.
They both shared a laugh and looked over to where Mavok and Rinne lay.
"They make a good match," said Zalon.
"Let's hope that he can handle her," said Alack with another laugh.
"To the new land of the elves," Zalon cheered.
They toasted their cups of water and then began to speak of the grand city they would build.
Alyster awoke to flame and smoke billowing around him, he had made it to the mountain and made it inside before the fires had started. He was knocked over by fleeing elves and hit his head.
He stood up and headed for the entrance, when he got there he saw it had been blocked. At the base, someone lay there groaning in pain. Alyster ran over to find Amy laying upon the floor with some rocks covering one of her legs.
"Amy, can you hear me?" he asked.
Amy opened her eyes and smiled.
"What happened here?" he asked.
"Save me," Amy pleaded.
Alyster began to pull off the rocks that had pinned Amy to the floor. He looked around and saw that a lot of the fires had died down, but the smoke had filled the massive cavern.
"We must get out of here," Alyster said and he helped Amy to her feet. "Can you walk?"
Amy nodded.
"Any ideas if there is another exit out of here?" Alyster asked.
"The spire, we need to head there," said Amy.
Alyster looked over to where she was pointing, the skeleton of a tall building stood at the back of the cavern. They made their way towards the spire.
'Time to finish what I started' thought Amy with a smile at her good luck.
The Last Ascension
Book Three of Ascension
prologue
Balen looked out of the window and smiled at the scene. The lake of Unity was a beautiful sight in the autumn; when the sun lay low and cast an orange glow over the water.
He put away the book he had been reading and stood up a bit too quick for his head swam and just for a moment his vision went white. Shaking his head, he left the library and walked into the hall of elders.
The grand hall was covered in carvings of strange unknown creatures said to now be extinct. They held such detail that Balen is certain they could come alive if they wished to.
'Maybe the elves could do it' he jested within his mind.
Leaving the hall, he walked through a corridor. On the walls hung great tapestries that spoke of Unity's history. Starting from the beginning as a place the last of the builders lived their lives. Then onto the great battle fought just beyond the hills surrounding the community that cost so many lives.
Balen often climbed the hill on his short trips to Unity to see the plaque that had been placed in honour of the fallen. Many of the names had now faded with no-one left that remembered who lay buried within the hill. He always said a prayer for them who had helped shape the world into what it was now.
He was a man of faith. A cleric that followed the path of God who believed that a higher power created life and guided them. He travelled to Unity to get away from the strict principles of his order and to fulfil the longing in
his heart for a woman.
Reproduction between man and woman was a necessity but long ago, the act of a monogamous relationship was abolished, with the belief that it hindered learning and following the paths of knowledge.
The woman he loved came from the path of Nature, who protected and tended to all living things within the world.
Aly had captured his heart upon first sight during one of his trips to the community at Nature's paradise. It had been the day of her blossoming and she had performed the dance that marked her as a naturist ready to begin their journey into the forests. He had followed her and it took him a while to win her attention. In a short time, they learnt everything about each other and planned to meet up once again.
A year passed and they had met up often. Travelling further and further away from their home communities until they discovered Unity. That is where they both learned what love was, what a partnership meant and freedom from the paths.
Their time there had been special, though commitments to their paths pulled them back, for they both played important parts within their communities. This time though had been their longest stay. Two months had gone by and today Balen was going to ask Aly to join him in performing the ceremony of marriage. An old joining that came from the time of the builders and something only practiced within Unity.
Outside the elders’ hall was the small island that sat within the middle of Unity Lake, connected to the rest of the land by a small bridge. Only the hall sat on the island, guarded by statues of past elders including Zalon the wise and Mavok the mighty. Both elves who had defended the community during the same battle in which the plaque had been created for.
They were carved from large blocks of stone and showed signs of aging where the weather had beaten away at the silent protectors of the island.
Balen walked across the small bridge and saw Aly waiting on the other side for him.
"Lost in your books again?" She asked.
Balen smiled and then embraced her.
"Have I missed something again?" He asked, knowing that he likely had when it came to reading books.
The Ascension Trilogy Page 15
