Pandora's Box: Land of Strife: Pandora's Box Series, Book 1

by S. Y. Lee

  Caitlin stopped firing off arrows into the backs of their enemies after a while, when she realized that she should be conservative with her ammunition. Her instinct had been to assist the reinforcements, but while they were outnumbered by approximately five to one, not a single one of them had fallen or gotten injured.

  “Who are they?” she asked, lowering her bow.

  Sarah had come up to her side and was pointing at two of the people who seemed to be leading the advance. “David! Look! It’s Delmar and Mira!” Her brother soon joined her, although he had to nudge his way pass Alister, who loomed over Sarah like a beach umbrella.

  Elin was the last one to make it up to the wall in her tired state, and she was surprised to hear the names that Sarah spoke. She grabbed the Englishwoman by the arm while peering over the wall, and held onto Sarah until she saw the two tiny figures in the middle of the battle. The man wielded two swords like they were extensions of his arms and he never stopped moving forward no matter who stood in his path. Next to him, the woman used a stick that was about her height and she skillfully deflected all attacks directed at her, some towards the man, who would proceed to strike the offender down.

  “It’s really them!” the wizard gasped.

  “Do you know them, Elin?” Sarah asked.

  “Not personally. I didn’t quite believe you when you told us about Servane, but it appears the stories are true.”

  “What? Why didn’t you say anything? We couldn’t have made that up.” Sarah frowned at the wizard who ignored her frustrated outburst. It was a reminder that trust between them was skewed, if not one directional.

  They were standing directly above the main gates and they soon heard the galloping of horses from below, as Karine rode out with several guards and charged towards the remaining enemies. Faced with the pincher attack, there was no place for them to flee and soon they were vanquished as horns sounded in the distance from the main enemy contingent. If it had been a signal for retreat, it had come too late.

  As Karine greeted their new allies and led them back into Thelmont, Elin stuck a hand out between Caitlin and Sarah and a small ball of fire left her open palm. It traveled slowly through the air until it finally reached the end of its arc and hit the ground. It then burst upwards into a fiery fountain of flames like fireworks. Along the wall and from below where the guards had gathered to see what was happening beyond the walls, cheers rang out. There was a glimmer of hope.

  Chapter 92

  They ran out of the building in hopes of seeing where the crow had flown to, but it had already disappeared when they got outside. Eva looked at the other two mostly intact buildings. Now that they were closer, Eva could see that the two buildings had once belonged to the same structure. She took a few steps back and realized the domed-structure formed a triangle, and she could visualize what had once been there: one singular entity that was symmetrically divided into two wings with the building they had been in serving as a centerpiece.

  Jessica had joined her by her side and she saw the same thing. “It’s a castle,” she realized.

  Leo and Themba looked at the women in bewilderment, and Eva had to call them over and point out the prominent features that connected the three buildings. The two wings were identical and while it wasn’t obvious due to the dilapidation of the ruins, soon they all saw it clearly as Eva painted a picture in their minds.

  “But wouldn’t the throne room be in this building?” Leo asked.

  Jessica shook her head and explained. “No, just because it’s in the center doesn’t mean it’s where the power is represented. There are some ancient buildings and castles in our world that are like that. Sometimes, for security reasons, they place it in a wing, or perhaps they built more parts of a castle around the original structure, and it wouldn’t make sense to move the throne room.”

  “I think the crow was flying in that direction,” Themba said, pointing at the building to the left.

  “Let’s go then.” Leo started towards it but Eva held him back.

  “Wait. We should have discussed this before, but what are we going to do if the so-called Blood King or Blood Throne is there?”

  He shrugged and tapped the handle of his sword. “It doesn’t look like this place is guarded at all. If it’s just one guy, I think we can take him.”

  “Take him? Do you mean kill him? They said his name is Kyle Lipinski. That sounds like someone from where we came from. We can’t do that. Jessica, what do you think?”

  The older woman let out a long sigh. “I don’t know what to think anymore. It doesn’t make sense. If this is a test, I don’t see what the point of everything is. Then again, Gods don’t act rationally like you and me. We should be prepared for the worst, but frankly, I’m so tired I just want this all to be over, to go home and lie in my bed for weeks.”

  “Abraham.” One word. That was all Themba uttered as they discussed their strategy, and they turned to look at him. Eva felt guilty for always forgetting about him, but he had such a negligible presence at times.

  “What?”

  “Abraham,” he repeated, as if to say that the word itself could convey his entire train of thought.

  While they looked at each other in puzzlement, Leo was the first to understand what he meant. “Abraham,” he repeated after Themba, and Eva hit him gently on the arm.

  “Spit it out, Leo,” she said.

  “I think Themba’s referring to Abraham from the Old Testament, when he shows God that he’s willing to sacrifice his son as a test of his faith,” he explained, looking at Themba to see if he was right. The South African nodded.

  “That’s two different things,” Jessica shook her head again. “We shouldn’t conflate mythologies. We’re getting nowhere with this discussion.” She was right and the four of them fell silent and looked at each other.

  It was an opportune time for the crow to reappear. Eva was the first to spot it flying out of the building to the left and then onward to the east. To Thelmont. She pointed at it until they couldn’t see it anymore, and they turned back to the building. Leo drew his sword and took Eva’s hand, leading the way to find answers to their questions.

  Chapter 93

  “Mira!” Sarah bent down and embraced the tiny woman. Not far away, her husband Delmar was talking to Cohl and Elin about arrangements for the reinforcements from Servane.

  Mira was as congenial as the last time they had been together, when she had sent them flying off the top of a mountain on a giant kite. “It’s good to see you’re safe, Sarah. And David. And Karine. Are these your friends?”

  Sarah introduced Alister and Caitlin, before asking what had brought them out of the mystical mountain to Thelmont. She couldn’t have imagined the giants floating down easily on a kite, but she decided to save those questions for later. The enemy had already regrouped and more of them were about to launch an attack on the city anew.

  “We hadn’t had someone new in the mountain for a while until you four showed up. Delmar was never suited for the reclusion of Servane, and seeing his prized sword in the hands of Leo rekindled something in him. So, one morning, he woke up and went around the mountain talking to everyone, trying to convince them to come with him and finish the fight he never got to take part in,” Mira explained. She always projected a sense of serenity and calm, and there was no better time to appreciate that quality.

  “Looks like most of them came,” David observed.

  “They did. Only a handful stayed. Delmar can be very inspiring.” Mira smiled in the direction of her better half, who looked over his shoulder at her at the same time. He saw the two familiar faces and waved as he left the conversation with Cohl and Elin to join his wife.

  “It’s good to see you two. Where’s Leo?” the small man inquired.

  “He’s…. he went to Gormore,” Sarah replied.

  Delmar blinked in surprise before simply responding. “Ah! Well, he’ll be fine, I hope. We must focus on the battle at hand.”

  “We’re glad
you’re here,” David said.

  “They weren’t expecting us so we cut through their forces easily, but they vastly outnumber the city’s forces.”

  “We’ve held them for seven days,” Caitlin said. She was feeling left out of the conversation as she didn’t know these strange people who had come to their aid, but she was also proud ofc their efforts so far to fend off the city’s attackers.

  “That you have. But a siege seldom ends in a stalema—”

  “Watch out!” A shout came from the wall as they all looked up to see burning barrels flying over their heads and behind them. There were screams everywhere as the barrels exploded on impact when they hit several buildings, and Sarah was instantly shielded from the resulting shower of debris by Alister’s cape.

  Men, women, and children stumbled in the streets, away from the points of impact, and as she pulled back the cape blocking her face, all Sarah could see were blood and rubble. She rushed forward to help the injured, with her guardian and twin brother closely behind her, while Mira, Delmar, and Caitlin scattered in different directions to prepare for the onslaught. The city was about to be overrun.

  Chapter 94

  They could hear voices coming from inside. Leo signaled to everyone to keep quiet as he led the way, and they treaded carefully with each footstep. It was hard to hear what was being said, but he could make out three distinct voices. Two male and one female.

  They made their way down a dark hallway until they came to a left turn. Leo leaned against the corner and poked his head out. He could see light at the end of the hallway from a burning fire as the shadow of its flames danced on the wall. Leo held his breath when he saw a statue, or what he had initially thought was a statue, shift slightly in place. It was a man clad in armor from head to toe, who held a broadsword pointed down with its tip touching the floor. There were at least a dozen other men in armor in the room who stood shoulder to shoulder in two rows, facing each other.

  At the far end of the room, through the two rows of armed men, Leo could see a throne where someone sat. That person was flanked by two other people, a man and a woman. The voices were clearer and louder now, and Leo fell Eva pressing on his back as she tried to get a better vantage point. Jessica had snuck up beside him, barely staying out of view from anyone at the end of the hallway, while Themba lingered behind.

  The man on the throne was speaking to the woman.

  “…long before the city falls?”

  “Soon. They won’t see the next sunrise.”

  “And then I can leave this place, and rule the world.”

  “If you want to.”

  “Forever?”

  “For as long as you live, yes.”

  “That sounds ominous.”

  “It is whatever you want it to be. If you vanquish all who stand in your way, this world will be yours to behold,” the woman said.

  Leo felt a tap on his back as Eva leaned in to whisper into his ear. “That woman sounds familiar,” she said.

  He hadn’t realized at first, but now that Eva mentioned it, he had indeed heard the woman’s voice before. He tried to recall where he could have met her, thinking about his time in this world, but it had to be someone that he and Eva had encountered together. It was a limited universe of possible suspects, but he couldn’t match the voice with any faces in his head, and the woman was too far away.

  “…once Thelmont has fallen, I want to leave Gormore. I’m tired of staying in this desolate place where you guys tell I’ll be safe from harm. I haven’t seen any of these “children from another world” you’ve spoken of that want to destroy me. What’s the point of conquering everything if you don’t get to see it?”

  “Patience is a virtue anywhere,” the man standing on the other side of the throne said. “It was a poor decision to send everyone but a few men to take the city. You should have consulted with us.”

  “Why? You’ve repeatedly said that nobody can enter the vicinity of these lands without coming under the influence of the throne as long as I control it. The sooner the invasion is over with, the better.”

  There was a long pause before the man spoke again. “Have it your way. I’ll ride ahead and see that the city is secured.”

  The four of them started to panic as they heard footsteps coming their way. They could run back the way they came, but the man would no doubt see them before they disappeared from the long hallway. Leo motioned for the rest of them to move back as he raised his sword and got ready to strike down the man as soon as he turned the corner. With any luck, they would be able to quietly subdue him before anyone was alerted to their presences.

  Leo waited with his sword over his head as he pictured the man walking around the corner. He tried to think about where the sword would strike the man. He would probably have to follow up quickly and put a hand over his mouth as the man fell, to prevent him from crying out for help. Any hesitation on Leo’s part would result in their discovery.

  He was taking in another deep breath when he felt Eva tugging on his sleeve. Annoyed, he turned to her with a frown. “What?” he mouthed silently. She pointed behind him, at the point where the hallway bent into the throne room. It took him a couple of seconds to see what she was indicating to him, before he took a few steps back. The man must be carrying a lamp or candle to light the way as the darkness began to recede with each footstep.

  Leo heard the collective gasps from behind him and he knew he needed to act then, or the consequences would be dire. Even if he managed to take the man down in one strike, they would still be exposed when the source of his light dropped to the ground.

  He waited until he saw the man’s hand come into view, carrying a candle as expected, and he shouted, “Run!” He then leaped forward and swung his sword at the stout, elderly man.

  Chapter 95

  He could barely hear his sister barking orders at people to help the wounded. David was frozen to the spot as he watched a child crying on his knees beside his mother. The rubble had fallen on top of her and her head had been partially caved in by a huge chunk of rock.

  All around him, the sounds of war were even more amplified than it had been in the past week. The wall that stood between the city and its attackers was taking hit after hit, and very soon, nothing would stop Thelmont from being overrun. Up to now, the fighting had been limited and to a stalemate, but even with the reinforcements led by Delmar, they were still vastly outnumbered and not suited for a full-frontal assault.

  He didn’t realize his sister was calling his name until she stood up and shook him. “David!” She practically had to scream in his ear before he snapped back.

  “Yeah?” he muttered.

  “Go help them! There are plenty of people trapped under the buildings!”

  “Uh… isn’t that a job for firemen or something?”

  Sarah stomped on his foot in anger, causing him to yelp in pain. “Do you hear any sirens or see any fire engines around?” She shoved him in the direction of some fallen buildings, before walking off in a huff to tend to more injured civilians with Alister right behind her. Even the peculiar man looked over his shoulder at David and shook his head as he shadowed his ward.

  David’s face was red and he felt particularly stung by Alister’s slight, but he knew his sister was right. There she was, with no medical expertise or obligations, helping the hurt and soothing the scared. David gulped as he watched his sister wrap a bandage around the head of an elderly man, and he went to the nearest pile of debris where people were trying to dig for survivors.

  He started digging with his hands, pulling at the largest bits of stone and throwing them behind him, until he noticed a burly man with a thick brown beard nearby, pulling someone by their legs out of the debris. David went over to help, loosening the rocks still holding the limp body down. When the body was free, David put a hand over his mouth as he saw the resemblance to the bearded man. Even though the face of the body was covered in dust and had no facial hair, there was no doubt that they were brothers
.

  David reached out to touch the man’s shoulder and comfort him as he stared down at his dead sibling. A few tears had trickled down his cheeks and his lips were pursed together. This wasn’t a man who cried openly, even in the face of the gravest tragedies.

  “I’m sorry,” David said. He didn’t know what else to say. There were many voices surrounding them as people called out for their loved ones or for help, but one in particular was getting closer.

  “Sam! Sam! I can’t find John!”

  David turned around to see a tall, blonde woman shouting in their direction as she approached from behind the man. Her clothes were stained with dirt and blood, but she somehow still exuded an indomitable sense of elegance. She stopped in her tracks when she was near enough to see the body lying on the ground. She broke out in tears as the bearded man rose and embraced her, letting her bury her face in his chest.

  David wiped away a tear as he watched them. He could feel more tears forming in his eyes as his vision blurred and he looked away. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was scared and he missed his parents.

  Chapter 96

  “Ah!” the man yelled as he dropped the candle. Leo was taken aback at how agile the man was on his feet. He had dodged the blade coming down upon his head at the last moment and Leo’s surprise attack had fallen short. Whatever little advantage they had was now gone.

  Behind him, Eva’s hands were moving and roots sprouted through the stone floor from beneath as the man retreated back into the chamber. They barely missed catching his ankles and he escaped their reach. The soldiers in the throne room had been alerted to the intruders and were now charging towards the hallway as the man ran through the middle of them. Leo could hear their heavy armors clanking in rhythm and he stepped around the corner and raised his sword again. As the soldiers charged at him, he could see out of the corner of his eye that Eva was still standing by him while Jessica stayed near the wall and waited. Themba’s back was becoming smaller and slowly fading into the shadows as he ran away.