The Tessellation Saga. Book Two. 'The One'

by D. J. Ridgway

  Rhoàld once more managed to push the door to the corridor shut finding an inner strength he knew was Bastian and together with Gideon’s father, they kept the wiry misshapen men behind it for a time. They were as exhausted as the others still fighting for their lives in the stone room were and the lack of clean clear air made every movement a labour. Lemba and Sonal dashed to where Mayan was still comatose on the altar stone as Varan and Jonus attempted to pull Gideon away from the line of increasing spell fire. One moment Thaddrick was a man shooting a spell of protection and warding toward the other members of the group and the next a wolf, dodging the return spells. Sonal grabbed at the unconscious Mayan and pulled her from the table her arm hit the floor hard and her wrist snapped badly, as the pain from her broken wrist lifted the sleep spell, her cry, also woke Gideon from his trance.

  The crystal atop the plinth moved as the plinth itself shuddered, Toby’s blood was seeping along the grooves cut into the rock and running behind the plinth. Varan watched in horror, as he knew the crystal itself would react to the fresh living blood, it began to change colour as it sensed the blood and Varan, realising the danger attempted to open himself up to the stone as he had for years as the stones highest servant. If I could occupy the stones consciousness for just a moment it may give the others time to fight back, he reasoned.

  Sonal, deep in the magic as he attempted to heal Mayan’s wrist, felt the change in his twin, he sat still and quiet listening for his brother’s mind, waiting for the chance to aid the brother he had let down so badly so long ago.

  Gath stood over the old mage, victory in his stance, stronger than he had ever been.

  ‘You will make me the gateway home old man and you will feel the wrath of your conqueror.’ He said, spittle gathering at the corners of his mouth. ‘I shall have your blood; you will feed me Thaddrick as your family have done for many, many generations. When I return to Arotia, which I will and in the body of a young God, the body of my son, have no doubt I will kill all of your blood line,’ he said, as Thaddrick, looking completely exhausted threw one last spell at him. The spell, easily knocked aside by Gath flew across the stone chamber hitting the wall solidly, it left a small line fixed almost invisibly to the back of Gath’s hand, the spell grew and spread as it fed off Gath. The rock beneath the spell changed and became oily, tiny pinpricks of light appeared. Gath laughed as the spell left his hand not noticing the small line still attached.

  ‘Is that all you have?’ He laughed again, as he flung another death spell toward the stricken vulnerable mage. Gideon felt the vibrations in the ether as Thaddrick appeared to weaken.

  ‘No, Thaddrick,’ he called and as he pushed his strength into that of his friend, he opened his mind wide offering all that he was to the frail old man. Immediately Gideon felt the voice enter his head once more, calling to him, asking for release from torment, pleading. In his state of heightened perception, he located the voice in the crystal above his head and he reached out to the crystal, curiosity filling him, unknowingly depriving Thaddrick of his last hope. At once Varan appeared in the ether before him.

  ‘No Gideon,’ he pleaded. ‘The crystal is evil and it will kill us all, it is a creature of the void.’ Gideon’s mind was suddenly full of pictures of Varan as a high priest of the crystal, drinking blood and slitting the throats of men, women and children. Gideon, horrified at the frightening imagery, pulled away in horror from the man he knew, drifting nearer to the voice in the crystal. Lemba, still sitting beneath the stone altar with Mayan nursing her half healed arm and Sonal offering what comfort he could, kept listening to his brother’s mind and felt the horror of the things he had done and his shame of it all. He felt Varan’s grief as he spoke the last words to his grandfather and heard again the command his grandfather had given him.

  ‘I love you boy, always have, now then, slice deep so I die quick.’ He heard his grandfather say and then watched as Varan with tears in his eyes resolutely slit the old man’s throat. With his heart heavy and his own eyes watering, he joined with his brother in pleading with Gideon to stay away from the evil within the crystal.

  Gideon felt the pull to enter and join with the power, to become one with it, the desire increased as he drew nearer, he could see such power, power, as he had never seen before. Unexpectedly before him in the ether, swam the lady, pain filling her face.

  ‘Gideon my son,’ she said, ‘look, Thaddrick has need of you.’ Gideon turned to his mother and saw Thaddrick as he struggled with death, instantly Gideon fell from the ether and as the lady vanished, he knew Thaddrick was dying; he threw himself bodily against the king. Unused to being the victim of physical violence Gath stumbled and fell in turn, knocking against the unsteady stone plinth once more. As he fell, he hit his head, temporarily knocking himself out; the crystal atop the plinth slipped from its already unsteady perch and now balanced precariously at its edge.

  The death spell Gath had sent into Thaddrick died with Gath’s consciousness, just as the gateway Thaddrick had attempted to create continued to draw on Gath’s comatose form. There was not much time, Thaddrick gasped as colour returned to his skin and breath, scant as it was to his stricken lungs.

  ‘Do not go near that gateway,’ he said breathlessly.

  Rhoàld and Jed struggled to hold the door closed the steady boom, boom, boom, of the axes and rock hammers sounding like drumbeats as the noise echoed around the room.

  ‘The door is about to collapse,’ Rhoàld called as Thaddrick faced a second wall and began to sing. The words were unfamiliar to all who were conscious enough to hear but their blood began to rejoice as they realised the unfamiliar words spoke of home. As Thaddrick sang, the plinth finally gave out and as if in slow motion the crystal along with the stones began to fall, down it went, falling even as Thaddrick sang. Gideon had that same feeling of foreboding that had plagued him for weeks, something irked him, causing him to reach for his candle and light the flame. He balanced the flame carefully and reached out for the crystal within the ether, not trusting himself to touch the once beautiful but dark stone; he held it steady with his mind as Thaddrick sang. Finally, a second gateway opened, tessellating just as the door to the room began to collapse under the strain of the hammers and axes.

  ‘Quickly go through,’ Thaddrick shouted as his strength gave out. Mayan and Lemba crossed the room and disappeared without hesitation.

  ‘Get Blue outta ‘ere Jed,’ Gideon’s father shouted to his namesake whilst holding the last vestiges of the doorway together with his newfound strength. Jed, hearing Gideon’s father, at last managed with Darnel’s help to push the unconscious Toby off himself. As one, they moved toward the fragile form of Thaddrick and taking an arm each walked as quickly as their burden would allow them toward the new gateway, following on behind the girls.

  ‘Wait,’ called Jed as he left Thaddrick’s entire weight on Darnel’s arm; quickly he crossed the room and silently retrieved the knife and the tiny box and that had saved his life. Unseen by Darnel he placed them in the pocket of his jerkin and raced back ushering both Darnel and Thaddrick through the shining black surface, stopping only momentarily to call to Jonus who still stood watching Jed, Gideon’s father as he held back the door with brute strength. Rhoàld stood over the unconscious form of Gath, a large knife in his hand and salvation for his beloved within his grasp. Jonus jumped past Sonal and Varan as they stood before the gateway calling for Rhoàld to hurry as they passed through; and Gideon, finally unable to fight the downward pull from the crystal any longer released the magic and stunned by the effort it took fell to his knees.

  As the crystal fell toward the rock floor, Rhoàld felt Bastian move with horror within him, realising something dreadful was about to happen Rhoàld left the vulnerable form of Gath and moved toward Gideon. At that moment Jed, Gideon’s father at last let the door go and rushed across the room to aid his son, pulling Gideon from the floor the two men dragged him from his kneeling position and half carried, half pushed him through Thaddrick
’s gateway, throwing themselves after him seconds before the gateway snapped, sealing it forever shut.

  As the door to the chamber disintegrated, the crystal hit the floor and shattered, Medim at last soared free and the souls of thousands of people who had died in his name found release. Dèvin had seen the valiant struggle his uncle had given and had been proud of the bloodline of his family as he recognised Gideon’s own blood. Now though, free at last, he felt his soul rise as the light before him gave him welcome, and he joined with the other freed souls finally and together as one, they began their own Journey.

  Medim’s soul swirled around the stone room, he had watched in amusement as the humans had fought, touching the magic’s roots oh, so tentatively. He searched for a new host amongst the life forms before him and quickly dismissed the ugly misshaped beings that managed to serve the priests. He entered the mind of Toby Hollins but left it quickly before Toby realised it was there, sex and hate, whilst both were powerful emotions, the human had no magic. Finally, the swirling purple cloud hovered over the unconscious form of the king, Medim could feel the need for hate and revenge, he could feel the blood lust and the anger but most of all he could feel the power vibrating through Gath’s blood, calling to him. Without hesitation, he entered Gath’s body and mind, settling in quickly becoming one with his host. The unconscious mind of Gath recognised a like being whilst Medim saw the mind of the man he had worshiped as a human boy all those years ago. The Journey wills in mysterious ways… Medim’s thoughts were interrupted by Gath, I alone decide my Journey... the now semi-conscious man thought wearily but as it recognised the voice that had called so frequently to him Gath’s dark soul smiled.

  Toby woke up feeling ill, he looked over to see the king still lying prone on the floor.

  ‘My lord?’ He asked as he moved toward the king, hoping, praying he was not dead. He needed the king to get out of the chamber, out from the bleak, the air outside was now unfit to breath. Already Toby could feel his lungs struggling and without Gath conscious enough to maintain the magic, the void was sucking the air out faster than ever.

  ‘My King, wake up!’ Toby exclaimed as he tried to rouse the seemingly comatose man. ‘King Gath,’ he shouted, slapping the king’s face hard, he lifted his hand to strike the king once more and as he did so, the king caught his arm almost crushing it in his vice like grip. Gath’s eyes flew open and Toby gulped as the once bright blue eyes stared back at him now as black orbs floating in a sea of darkness. Toby stepped back in surprise.

  ‘Call us… MeGath, yes… MeGath,’ the king laughed, releasing Toby’s hand and rubbing his own hands together. ‘My name is MeGath.’ At that moment Thaddrick’s first gateway finally tessellated, becoming the portal he had endeavoured to power using Gath’s own strength. The pull from the gateway was overpowering as one by one the misshapen servants rose from the floor, pulled by the vacuum the darkness created and sucked out into the void. Toby too felt the pull as his feet began to leave the floor.

  ‘Sire,’ he called, ‘MeGath, help me,’ he screamed as his feet went from under him and he flew toward the darkness. MeGath watched, again dispassionately. With a flick of his wrist, the line severed, the gateway closed and Toby fell to the ground with a bang.

  ‘Tell me of this Thaddrick,’ MeGath asked himself aloud and listened as the part of him that was Gath began to tell his tale. As he finished his silent conversation he smiled, ‘Arotia will welcome both of its sons home once more Thaddrick, wait and see,’ he said, adding, ‘and the heir of the Emperor King Ramis will reign supreme across two worlds forever. As I was meant to do father,’ he called loudly, his words echoing around the room, and flowing out under the newly strengthened dome. They reverberated across the dead space under the dome and found the miniscule gap left by the unclosed Gateway when the colonists first arrived. Finally, the words were sucked through the breach and left to rebound across the void, whilst on route to Arotia Thaddrick shivered.

  ._._._

  About the Author:

  Hi there, I work at London Heathrow Airport and divide my time between my work, my family, (which is huge, five children and six grandchildren so far!) my friends, my garden and my beloved computer. I do hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  Currently the third book in the ‘The Tessellation Saga’ which is to be called, ‘MeGath’ is undergoing scrutiny for typo’s and loose threads, (do let me know if you find any I’ve missed!) I’ve added a sneaky peek of the first three chapters at the end of this book.

  Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com@Dede12012

  Alternatively, for more of my random rambling read my blog:

  http://tessellationsaga.blogspot.co.uk/

  ._._._

  MeGath

  Trial and time the shadow remains,

  His return begins the stain,

  Twelve of one, blood of the key,

  Cleanse the shadow,

  Expunge the stain,

  Twelve will be to set them free, or two will die.

  Chapter 1

  MeGath stared at the wall intently as he mumbled his incantation, his eyes slowly glazed over, gradually filling with darkness as the magic grew and spread, the red rectangle he had drawn on the old brickwork with fresh innocent blood, glowed with a malevolence he had not expected. He smiled slowly. This time, he thought, this time, the magic will work, the gateway will open. His eyes were now as black as the night sky and as the storm raged outside his window, the skies split, sending showers of brilliant white light in every direction as the lightning spread. The pressure built steadily as if called forth by MeGath’s magic, by his blood, the life giving fluid that pounded in his heart and rushed through his veins, it pulsed in time with the glowing blood he had used to draw the outline for the portal. The blood was fresh, strong in magic and new, the donor, an infant from a native Boeteshian nobleman’s family, one with an embarrassing pregnancy to conceal. The nobleman had been very glad to be rid of the evidence of his daughter’s indiscretion and the child’s mother was told her baby was stillborn. He believed the journey had been with him the day he found out about the pregnancy and of course as a stern but fair king, he was pleased to be in a position to help a loyal courtier. He told the man he would have the baby placed in to one of his farms to be brought up as a valued member of society and would never trouble him again, he smiled wryly, that last at least is true, he thought.

  A pinpoint of black light began to glow within the center of the rectangle, a weak and sickly glimmer turning from black to a dirty, oily yellow. It oozed from the middle of the wall spreading like a disease as it ate its way across the bare brickwork and permeated the room with a sulphurous noxious smell. MeGath continued his incantation, his hands weaving in time to the unmelodious chant and as the cement in the wall began to liquefy the bricks themselves softened and bubbled under the intense unhealthy light. The crawling mass grew. More pinpoints of black began appearing within the bloody framework, each again producing more of the noxious brightness and the acrid sulphurous smell. The seething goo spread outward almost covering the entire bloody framework and in the center, the darkness became solid, absolute. MeGath’s excited mumbling grew louder as his gateway finally began to appear viable.

  Outside the walls of the castle, the storm continued to rage; mage’s sang spells of calming to the heavens to no avail, anxiously offering their lives as balance for the magic they were using, draining themselves as they strove ever harder to control the abnormal weather. Mothers held their children and sank onto their knees in supplication to the gods and tears fell in abundance as the winds blew chimneys from rooftops and screaming animals fought to relieve the pressure building inside their heads. Out at sea, a small vessel shuddered under the continued onslaught of the ferocious waves as a group of men lashed a young girl to a grating for safety.

  High in his tower, MeGath ignored the storm outside and sliced both his palms deeply with a small ceremonial knife, grimacing with pain he
raised his arms and watched as his blood sped freely along an invisible, horizontal line, joining and mixing with the sulphurous mass on the wall encouraging the barrier to open. It’s happening… it’s finally happening, he thought as he watched his blood become one with the crawling, bubbling darkness. Still the mass expanded, grew ever nearer the bloody rectangle, it will merge this time, it must, he thought as his voice rose to a pitch beyond human hearing. Somewhere in the castle, dogs began to bark.

  ‘NOW’, he screamed as the sickly disease finally began to eat at the bloody painted framework. ‘NOW’, he screamed again as the knife dropped from his sticky red hand and fell to the floor spinning soundlessly and spreading droplets of blood in a small circle.

  The bloody outline glowed brighter as the sickly mass covered it, suddenly it flared with an incandescent flame and as MeGath closed his eyes to avoid blindness, a jolt of pure energy tore from his body, exiting through his outstretched and bloody palms. Straight along the invisible line it went and then out through the burgeoning rift and on into the darkness that had once been a wall, on into the black velvet nothing lying beyond it. Like a beacon in the night, it lit the dark, inky space briefly and disappeared but within moments the energy bolt returned, somehow brighter and stronger than before, he stopped singing as the light exploded in his head causing him to fall to his knees. Immediately, he pushed the heels of his bloody palms into his eye sockets attempting to retrieve his ruined vision and lessen the growing pain. With his eyes screwed tightly closed, he failed to notice as his body began to glow, brighter and brighter he shone as the light’s energy released through him and into the room, more and more spilled from his pores and dissipated as quickly into the air. It seeped out through the walls and windows, flowed through fabrics and doors until finally it joined with the winds of the storm and scattered, once more filling the world with a message of hope and love.