“I know,” she smiled. “Look after him for me, will you?”
“We will,” the girls replied at the same time. This made them all laugh.
“I…we will always be with you,” her mother said as she took Norma’s hand.
Lilly turned to Lyla asking if she was ready. She nodded, and they grabbed hands and walked toward the bright light.
Thomas was kneeling over Lyla’s body; tears were running down his face. How could they lose both of them? This was supposed to be a day of victory and happiness, not sorrow and grief.
“What do we do now?” Ryan asked.
“We have to give them a proper burial,” said William. Everyone knew he was holding himself together, but just by a thread. Inside was a train wreck that had just shattered his heart into a million pieces. “We will cover the bodies and take them both to the cottage. I want them buried next to their mother and grandmother.” He gazed over at Joe, who was utterly distraught. William wasn’t sure how he would respond at the mention of his wife, but he only nodded in appreciation.
William leaned down and rested his hand on Thomas’s shoulder.
“It’s time.”
Thomas thought Lyla was so beautiful. He remembered the first time he saw her. He thought she was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. He couldn’t stop thinking about her and had not been able to stop ever since. He had even thought of their future together, and he wanted to give her everything she wanted out of life. He thought of a nice house and possibly children. She would forever be on his mind. She was so full of life then. It hardly seemed like she was gone, it was like she was sleeping. He wanted to kiss her one last time. She was the love of his life and no one could replace her.
Thomas leaned down and kissed Lyla. He didn’t care what everyone thought or if they thought he was crazy. He pulled away, hoping life would return to her, but she remained lifeless. He held her hand one last time, and as he pulled his hand away he felt her finger move. Was this part of his imagination? Maybe he really was going mad.
“Did anyone see that?”
“See what?” Giselle asked.
“I felt her move.” They all looked at him like he was crazy. Her pulse was checked multiple times. She was gone.
“Thomas, just give it a rest,” William said. “They are not coming back. We have to accept that.”
Only a few seconds had passed when Lyla and Lilly woke up, both gasping for air. They couldn’t catch their breaths. Everyone stared wide-eyed, but they all gathered around. Thomas was holding Lyla and Charles was sitting next to Lilly. After five long gasps, their breathing finally slowed to the normal pace, as air fully filled their lungs.
“That was a lot more painful than I had imagined,” Lyla said.
“You’re telling me,” said Lilly with a slight chuckle.
“Did I miss something?” Giselle asked. “I hardly think this is funny when the both of you were just lying there dead.”
“You-you’re alive,” said Thomas. He was still holding Lyla in his arms. “But how?”
Lyla and Lilly were both as strong as ever. Lilly’s wounds had fully healed under her bloody shirt and she was even back to a healthy weight.
Lilly told them they had seen their mother and grandmother in heaven, and that they were the ones to send them back. William was quite thrilled to receive his message, as was their grandfather.
“She really said that?” said William. “She still loves me?”
“She does very much,” Lyla said. “She always has and never stopped, even after she made you leave. It was the hardest thing she had ever done.”
Everyone was laughing and talking, as if Lyla and Lilly had not just been corpses lying on the ground before them. Thomas pulled Lyla away from the others for a private conversation.
“You left me,” he said sadly.
“I’m sorry, but it was the only possibility of getting Lilly back.”
“I understand. I know how much you mean to each other, and she would have done the same for you.” Lyla glanced at Lilly, who was standing next to Charles and the others, laughing and smiling. It was a sight she never thought she would see again. She knew Thomas was right. Lilly would have done the same for her. “Just promise me you won’t do it again.” He looked at her with pleading eyes. “I don’t want to go through that again. It will kill me.”
“I can’t promise anything, but I will do my best.” He hesitated for a moment then nodded.
“I’ll take that.”
She took his hand and smiled.
“Let’s rejoin the others, shall we?”
“We shall.”
Thomas and Lyla rejoined everyone, all smiling and laughing in a circle. As soon as she was getting interested in the conversation her grandfather pulled her away.
“There’s something I have to show you.”
Joe led her to a nearby hallway, and into a large room. There were random objects lying on the floor everywhere, but what really caught Lyla’s attention was a tall, massive object in the center.
“What is that?” Lyla asked.
“It is an invention Damien had me build. People step in, and the door closes, and then a serum that Damien came up with comes out as a fog into the air. When the person steps out, they look the same, but they are so very different. Whatever Damien puts in there is making them stronger and faster. It’s unnatural.”
Lyla immediately thought of Luke. This had to be why she couldn’t hit him with any of her weapons. If Damien had an army of people just like Luke, he would be unbeatable.
“We need to show the others.”
Joe repeated everything to the others that he had told Lyla when they returned to the room.
“Can we reverse the effect of the serum somehow?” Lilly asked.
“If I had the serum to test, then yes,” said Joe. “Without it, I will not be able to.”
“Once we know Damien’s exact location, we can think of a plan,” said Lyla. “Until then, we can’t do anything. We need to get back to Armoria. It will be safer there.”
Lyla returned to the underground subway and collected Kona as she had promised. The man was delighted to hear that all the Demorites had been defeated. Even though it was now safe to go out in the open, he still remained underground. It had been his home for so long that he didn’t want to leave it. Lyla wished him well and gladly took Kona with her.
Kona would be a great companion, and Lyla knew she would love Armoria as much as she did. She would be able to run on the beautiful green grass and sleep with her at night.
She caught up with everyone just outside the city limits. The sun was shining brightly above them and the rainclouds had diminished, though there were water puddles everywhere. Lyla was glad that the previous night was behind her.
As soon as Lilly saw Kona, she ran to her. Kona was trying to lick Lilly as she rubbed her tummy. Lyla was glad Lilly was taking a liking to her as much as she had.
Lyla walked toward Ryan and Thomas, who were discussing future plans.
“I never thought I would see the two of you playing together so nicely,” Lyla said, laughing. “Did I hear you say something about future plans?”
“As a matter of fact, you did,” said Ryan. “Unfortunately, the battle is won, but the war is not yet over. Damien is still out there and although we have rid the Demorites of our city, there are still thousands all over the world.”
“Don’t remind me,” Lyla said annoyed. It was a headache waiting to happen. “So, what is your plan?”
“We are going to move our forces northeast toward New York City. We hope to add to the Alliance along the way, hopefully tripling in size, and killing any Demorites we might come across. I’m sure there are people out there just like us that would join our cause. We would also like to spread the word of the Alliance, so people will start fighting back on their own. Our primary goal is to clear the United States, and then press on to other countries if we must, but hopefully by then people will have done the job thems
elves.”
“It’s a good plan, but it is going to be a long process,” said Thomas. “We need to find Damien. If we take out their leader, maybe the Demorites will retreat on their own.” He turned and directed his attention toward Lyla. “We will go back to Armoria and search there first. It is most likely that he would have fled to Dresden, since he has no one to guard him at the moment, and he is unfamiliar with the surrounding territory. The Demorites do all of his dirty work for him, so he probably doesn’t know what’s out here.”
“That doesn’t mean he won’t come back,” Lyla said. “So, keep an eye out for him.” Her attention was directed toward Ryan.
“Before I go, I was curious about one thing,” said Ryan.
“And what’s that?” said Lyla.
“Damien could not make the crystals and ring work for his power. I thought it would work for anyone.”
“Well, I told him that it would only work for Lilly, my mother, and myself, but the truth is he didn’t have the proper ring.” Thomas and Ryan stared in confusion. “When we first arrived at Sector B-2, I went to the blacksmith, and he was kind enough to duplicate the ring. That is the ring I gave to Damien. It looked the same, but it has no real connection to my mother, and that is why it did not work.”
“Smart,” he said. He was fully satisfied with her answer, and was ready to head back to the bunker. “Maybe one day we will fight alongside each other once more. It was a pleasure seeing you again, Lyla, and nice meeting you, Thomas, even though we had our rough patches. Safe travels to you and your companions.”
“And you as well,” said Thomas.
Ryan turned away and walked in the direction of the underground bunker, which was where the Alliance had retreated to for the night. They were celebrating all night long after defeating the Demorites.
“That was a clever idea,” said Thomas.
“As soon as I saw the blacksmith area, I had the idea. Fortunately, it worked.”
“Let’s just hope he doesn’t get his hands on the real ring.”
Thomas and Lyla met up with the others, who were saddled on horses and ready to move on. They followed their example, and mounted Lyla’s horse. With Joseph, Charles, Thomas’s parents, and Papa Joe now with them, they did not have enough horses. Papa Joe was alone on Thomas’s horse, Charles paired up with Lilly, and Joseph with Giselle. They had one extra horse for Thomas’s parents.
Their plan was to ride back to the cottage, where they would leave Papa Joe. They insisted on him going with them to Armoria, but he wanted to reside in the cottage with his inventions and old memories. Lyla didn’t care that she was technically banished, she was going back. After what they had just accomplished, how could they force her to leave?
“Actually, we might want to get back to Armoria as soon as possible,” said Joseph. Everyone shot him a concerned look.
“Why would we need to do that exactly?” asked William.
Charles and Joseph exchanged glances. “Well, Morgan has been somewhat of a problem. That’s one of the reasons we came to find you in the first place.”
“Morgan?” said William.
“Yeah, well, Monroe had to go to Starlight City for a while, and left Morgan in charge as head council,” said Joseph.
“What has she done?” Lyla asked with an annoyed tone.
“Oh, nothing out of the ordinary, except she has gone bat crazy and taken over all of Armoria,” said Charles.
“She was always bat crazy,” said Lyla.
“That is so true,” said Lilly, who was laughing to herself.
Lyla grumbled. They had all been through so much, and now they had to deal with this. Someone should have taken care of the issue long ago, like William suggested.
“Sorry, Papa, but we have no time to waste. You are coming to Armoria with us.”
Chapter 28
In three days, they had made it to the Armorian gate. Papa Joe was amazed, and wanted to take more time to observe the enchanted gateway, but he had no time. Lyla knew he was trying to think of every possibility of how someone could have invented something so amazing.
“Wait,” said Lilly. “I thought you had to be an Armorian descendant to enter the gateway.” She looked over to her grandfather, who was paying no attention at all.
“No,” said William. “Anyone who is not an Armorian descendant can’t open the gateway, but once opened, they can go through as long as they are accompanied by Armorians. There is a limited amount of time though before it would have to be reopened.”
Lilly was excited that her grandfather was joining them. She had discussed with Lyla how she had wanted her grandfather to live with them in Armoria. She didn’t expect him to stay, because she knew he would want to return to the cottage, but at least he would be able to see what it was like, and how beautiful it was. He might come to like it and want to stay after all, if they would even allow it. She was not sure what the rules were with non-Armorians living in Armoria. Hopefully, it wouldn’t have to be approved by the head council, because she knew Morgan would not allow it, if only to anger Lyla, but then again, Morgan may no longer be head council if she had gone as crazy as they say.
One by one, they passed to the other side, and William was the last to pass through the gate. Armoria looked exactly how it did when they left it. As far as he could see, Morgan had not caused any damage to the town square itself. The only issue was that no one was around to ask about it. Where had everyone gone? Were they all ordered to stay in their homes to be away from the square? Why would Morgan order them to do such a senseless act?
“I think our best bet is to go into town hall,” said Lyla. “Morgan will most likely be residing there in her father’s office.”
They left Papa Joe to watch over the horses and Kona. This was not his problem, so Lyla and Lilly did not want to involve him, if at all possible.
Lyla cringed as she walked up the steps to the Town Hall. The last time she had been up the steps was the night of the celebration. It was the worst and best night of her life. It was terrible, because it was the night she had been bitten by one of Damien’s creatures, but it was also a great night, because Thomas had finally told her how he felt about her.
The lights in the hall were dim as they made their way into the ballroom, and what they saw next was very unexpected. Cages were lined up in columns throughout the room, and in them were the people of Armoria. It seemed like everyone in town had been thrown in there, but why?
“You weren’t kidding,” Lilly mumbled. “She really has gone bat crazy.”
Morgan seemed to be absent from the room, so they tried releasing people from the iron cages, but they were all locked, and they did not have a key or anything to pry them open with. Of course Morgan would not make it easy for them. Would she even expect them to return? Probably not Lyla, since she had been banished, but surely, she expected everyone else to return, and then what? They would not be easily manipulated.
“What is going on?” William asked an older gentleman.
“Morgan shoved us in these cages when we refused to listen to her every command. She wants to be ruler of Armoria; someone has to stop her.
“That is what we intend to do,” said Lyla.
The man redirected his attention to Morgan as she entered the room through a set of doors on the opposite side of the hall, followed by Tyler Dellford. She was wearing a ball gown and had a crown placed on top of her head. She smirked when she saw Lyla and the others. “Well, if it isn’t Lyla Langston. What a pleasure.”
“I wish I could say the same,” said Lyla. She was standing with her hands on her hips and an unwelcome expression.
“If I remember correctly, you were banished from Armoria, were you not?”
“I don’t always do as I’m told, but it is a good thing that I did come back, seeing what you have done to all of these people. Just because you are the temporary head council doesn’t mean you can lock the Armorian citizens in cages.”
Morgan’s anger began to flare,
but it settled quickly. “I intend to make some changes before my father returns. You do realize that by breaking Armorian Law, you will be punished by death.”
“And who is going to execute me? If you haven’t noticed, everyone in town has turned against you.”
“I will deal with you personally, and the rest will be punished accordingly.”
“Do you not remember what happened the last time you quarreled with her?” said Thomas. His eyes glanced down at her arm that was still hanging in a sling. “Your arm is still healing, I see.”
“Thomas,” she said, delightfully ignoring his previous question. “I’m so happy you have returned. Once I rid the world of that wretched demon, you and I can be together again.”
“The only demon here is you. I would follow Lyla through Dresden before standing by your side.” He stood by Lyla and placed his arm around her waist. Lyla could see the jealousy in Morgan’s eyes, but she still remained calm.
“I will deal with you later. If it were not for my unending love for you, I would have you executed as well.”
“You can’t just go around executing people,” Lyla said. “You can’t go around doing whatever you want anymore. Enough is enough.” Lyla turned away from Morgan, and to the Armorians that were still behind bars. “People of Armoria, it is time to change some of the Armorian Laws. We must rid Armoria of the head council and designate someone, not to rule, but to be a true leader of Armoria. Someone that will protect and take care of us. Someone who is selfless and courageous.”
“And I suppose you think you should be the one to be leader of Armoria?” said Morgan. Her laughter filled the room. “You could not possibly be a leader of anything.”
Lilly walked to her sister’s side. “My sister would be a great leader. My sister is full of wisdom and knowledge. She also has the courage of a lion and the biggest heart of anyone I know.” She took her sister’s hand and smiled. “But it is also not for her to decide. Our new leader will be chosen by the people of Armoria, not by people who have to buy their way into leadership.” Everyone in the cages beganto cheer. They were relieved to know that they would have a new leader, and would take part in that decision.
Aftermath_The Armorian Chronicles Page 28
