The Middle Realm

by Charmaine Theron

  Uncurling his fists, he held his hands out in front of him, showing the wolf his open palms, as a gesture of peace. “We seek the oracle. We need her help.” How stupid! This wolf can’t understand me.

  The wolf inched closer until it was two feet away from him. Ash gazed deep into its eyes and noticed the steel-blue irises flickering into grey. Its eyes were familiar. Where had he seen that eye colour before?

  The wolf altered its demeanour and its body language switched from aggressive alpha into that of a submissive wolf pup. Bowing down onto its front paws, it yapped at him in a playful manner. Ash inclined his head and looked at the wolf suspiciously. The wolf backpedalled. What had gotten into it? The other wolves around the temple behaved strangely too – at first they yelped and then they tucked their tails between their legs and bolted into the surrounding woods to hide.

  As the alpha wolf stepped back, the oracle appeared in the temple’s doorway. The wolf’s eyes mutated back to steel-blue and its demeanour shifted once again. Growling at Ash, its top lip quivered and curled up, revealing pointed yellowed fangs. The oracle shushed the wolf and he ran over to her, sitting obediently by her feet.

  Ash recalled where he’d seen the grey eyes before – at the Agora, a long time ago, when he’d met an old woman who had been selling her fruit and vegetables. The old woman had offered him a forewarning. “The future of our Realm lies in your hands. The choice you have to make will either be the beginning or the end. A foolish choice cannot be undone.”

  The old woman had been the oracle.

  Seconds later, Ash jolted out of his reverie when Maksimos and Kyros strode forward and stood alongside him.

  “It’s been a long time, Maksimos,” the oracle said.

  Maksimos bowed his head but remained silent.

  The oracle placed her wrinkled hand on the white wolf’s head and gently stroked him. A jealous hoot came from the temple’s pointed rooftop.

  Ash raised his eyes to where the silver-flecked owl was perched. She sees through the animal’s eyes. The oracle’s the one who spies on us.

  The oracle clicked her tongue and stretched her arm out to her side. The owl swooped down and landed on her arm. What an odd sight the oracle made, surrounded by her wild animals. The soldiers relaxed and tension released into the air as a kettle emits its steam. The alpha wolf whimpered and lay down.

  “Chance, it’s good to see that you’ve returned.”

  Chance broke into a cheesy grin and, for a moment, he looked as though he might giggle like a child. Then, without warning, Chance’s stomach growled noisily.

  The oracle inclined her head at the intervening sound.

  “Do you have any broth – the same as I had the last time?” he asked, still grinning.

  “I do, lad. There’s a big pot cooking out the back for everyone. I’m sure you’re all famished.”

  Ash frowned. “Of course… you’re the oracle, you predicted our return.”

  The oracle laughed before turning to Maksimos. “I see there’re others accompanying you – inhabitants from the Middle Realm?”

  “The Hajarans… they’re a desert tribe from there. They’ve learnt to adapt and live in the harsh conditions. Their city’s similar to ours. We have the Wall, whereas they have the mountains for protection. All along, we believed that the Middle Realm was barren of life… but it’s far from the truth. Hidden in the middle of the desert there’s an oasis that they’ve discovered – and well – they’ve survived there for centuries,” Maksimos explained.

  Kyros threw his hands up. “A miracle! It’s nothing more than a miracle.”

  Chance butted in, asking the oracle expectantly, “Do you know where Rachel is?”

  The oracle nodded. “We’ll get to that later… we have far more pressing matters to attend to.”

  Chance looked crestfallen. Allowing his shoulders to slump, he mumbled, “I’m going to get some broth.” He skulked off toward the delicious savoury aroma that wafted from behind the temple.

  “Why don’t the Guardians come inside?” The oracle extended her arm, inviting them into the temple. “Soldiers and children you can erect your camp at the back. It’s well covered there and the wolves will protect you.”

  Without hesitation, Elektra vaulted onto Pandora and trotted around the side of the temple. Zack followed, but he didn’t look impressed that the oracle hadn’t extended the invitation to him. Zahir led his army into the woods, where they unpacked their possessions. Meanwhile the Guardians stepped over the threshold into the sacred temple. The alpha wolf loped away and joined his pack.

  Once inside, the oracle nudged the owl off her shoulder and the creature flew to the high ledge where she perched.

  “Calypso’s jealous of Lykou,” the oracle said. “She doesn’t like sharing my attention.”

  Maksimos and Kyros stared at the owl curiously.

  Kyros leaned casually against the stone wall. He had tied his long hair into an untidy ponytail, which accentuated his strong jawline. “I’ll get straight to the point… we’re here to ask for your help.”

  “I’d be happy to do a predication,” surmised the oracle.

  “That won’t be necessary,” replied Maksimos.

  “Then what help do you need?” asked the oracle.

  “To get inside the City,” explained Kyros.

  “Not wise,” the oracle warned. “Drakon’s men are guarding the Wall.”

  Maksimos probed, “What are his plans for our return? Have you heard any rumours?”

  “Drakon doesn’t wish to go to war,” the oracle proclaimed.

  Ash stood to one side, listening intently to the unfolding conversation.

  “He doesn’t wish for a war! How dare he even decide that? He’s a murderer. Innocent people died because of him – not once, but twice in our Realm’s history,” Kyros shouted as he launched himself away from the wall.

  “Does he expect a truce?” Maksimos asked, pacing up and down, his staff clinking on the stone floor. He never let the oracle answer, instead he answered with his mind already made up. “Because if he wants a truce, he’s not going to get it. We’re going to destroy him and the Dark Legion.”

  Ash stepped in and joined the conversation. “I don’t trust Drakon. Even if we offered him a truce, he’d go back on his word.” He turned to face Maksimos. “Look what he did to you…”

  Maksimos’s expression darkened. “I tried to reason with him during the coup, but he wouldn’t listen to me – it was as if he’d been possessed. During the exile, he attacked me… stabbed me and we fell into the vortex. That’s when I dropped the Onyx and the stone disappeared along with him.”

  “The Onyx holds great power,” remarked the oracle, “but this power can be transferred.”

  Ash inclined his head. “That’s why the book safeguards the Onyx. No one’s meant to have the stone.”

  “That’s right Ash,” Maksimos confirmed. “As I’ve said before, the book and the stone work together. But once separated—”

  “—then the possessor holds all the power.” Ash finished Maksimos’s sentence.

  “And the possessor can control the weather-force,” added the oracle. “Your army cannot defeat Drakon even though they now control the elements. I’m presuming that you’ve cast the incantations?” The oracle glanced at Maksimos.

  Maksimos nodded in affirmation.

  “Where’s the book now?” the oracle questioned.

  “I have it here.” Maksimos patted the bag that was around his body. “We’ll leave it in the temple for safekeeping,” he announced unexpectedly.

  Ash said, “As long as Drakon doesn’t get his hands on it.”

  “His name curdles my blood. We need to see the end of him,” Kyros remarked angrily, “and his henchmen too.”

  “I’ve spoken with him,” the oracle announced, her grey eyes shining.

  Kyros’s face turned red.

  Ash frowned. Was the oracle on Drakon’s side? They had come to her for help, but the way
she spoke about him, it was as if they’d become allies.

  The oracle noticed Ash’s expression. “Remember, an oracle’s role is to serve, to deliver her prophecies to the Guardians. If I disobeyed Drakon – well, you know what would’ve happened to me. He’s the ruling Guardian after all.”

  “Not for long,” Maksimos muttered under his breath.

  “Did… did you perform any predictions for him?” Ash stumbled over his words, his mind racing back once again to the prediction that the oracle had given him.

  “That’s the strangest part… of all the Guardians, I’d have thought that Drakon would be the one wanting a prediction. But he wasn’t interested.”

  “Predictions or no predictions we’re moving forward with our plan to infiltrate the City. But it cannot be any of us as the Dark Legion might recognise our faces. Even if we use Zahir’s men they’ll notice them as strangers – they’ve never been seen around the City before,” Kyros deliberated.

  Outside Pandora whinnied, a higher pitch than normal. Elektra shooed the wolves away. Pandora sounded frightened which was strange, as she was normally fearless when in her Pegasus form and only timid as her true self.

  Ash had an idea. “What if we use Pandora? Elektra can fly over the Wall and enter the City. The guards won’t see them at night.”

  “And as long as Elektra wears the Amulet,” Maksimos added, “it’ll protect her.”

  Kyros scratched his cheek. “Good idea Ash. Elektra’s been waiting for this opportunity to prove herself as a horse-warrior.”

  “Once she’s in, she can make her way to Rachel’s house,” Ash advised. “I know we can trust Rachel to spread the word about our return.”

  Kyros spoke to Ash, “Go call her. She needs to be part of the planning.”

  Elektra arrived moments later and they spent the last part of the afternoon in deliberation. Only once a strategy was in place, did the meeting end. The Guardians headed back to the makeshift campsite outside, while the oracle lit the temples’ candles. The light shone out of the open doorway, partially illuminating the mossy pathway. Later, the guttering candles and the campfire sputtered out, cloaking the woodlands in darkness.

  Chapter 25

  Fallen Heroes

  Elektra hid her anxiety well the following day. Only Ash noticed that she purposely avoided both him and the others, so that when she disappeared altogether, he had a reason to worry about her. He didn’t want to alarm Chance or Zack, so instead he asked a group of soldiers if they’d seen her. When one pointed in the direction of the pathway, he hurried along it to find her. Elektra was sitting next to a fallen Hamadryad with her hand resting lightly on its once mighty trunk. He approached quietly, not wanting to alarm her, and stopped a few paces away. Even though she had her back toward him, he could tell by her stooped shoulders that she’d been crying.

  “I couldn’t look at them yesterday when we passed by. But today’s different – I’ve come to pay my last respects.”

  “They were brave in their final battle.”

  “They fought to their deaths… they must have known that they were going to die… their faces… they tell of the fear they endured.” Elektra lifted her hand off the trunk and stroked the Dryad’s brittle, broken hair. “She must have seen her friends fall around her.”

  “Protecting the oracle and fighting for their Realm – they’re heroes.” Ash strolled forward and sat down next to her. The dead oak leaves crunched beneath his weight.

  “I’m sorry if I’ve been avoiding you. But there’s so much going on. I needed some time alone.”

  Ash threw his arm around her shoulder and drew her closer to his side. “Your hair’s growing back fast.”

  Elektra toyed with her short hair self-consciously and a companionable silence fell between them.

  A few seconds later, Ash broke the stillness. “Do you remember when we were crossing the Skeletos Desert?”

  Elektra replied, “When the dragonfly landed on me? How silly I must’ve looked when I thought it was a scorpion!”

  “No, not that. There’s something else… it’s been bothering me…”

  “What?” Elektra tilted her head curiously.

  “Perhaps it was me who shifted the sand.”

  “Kyros was adamant that it was the Desert Dryads.”

  “But now that this has happened, it could have been me.”

  “Have you tried your powers again?”

  Ash shook his head. “During my first mentoring class, he told me that I’d never be able to control the elements. He also said…” Ash trailed off.

  “What did he say?” Elektra prompted.

  “That it’s unheard of for a Guardian to control all the elements.”

  “There’s always a first time.”

  Ash laughed. “We must tell Chance and Zack.”

  “As long as Chance keeps his mouth shut. And Zack’s getting closer to Rania – we need to be careful there.”

  “I’m sure they’ll keep the secret.”

  “What about telling Kyros?” Elektra suggested again. “He’s your mentor after all.”

  “He might feel obligated to tell the oracle and I don’t want her to know.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “The way she talks about Drakon… it’s as if they’re allies.”

  “That’s strange…”

  Ash removed his arm from around Elektra and leaned back on his elbows. He gazed up at the azure sky through the gap in the oak canopy where the mighty Hamadryads had once rooted themselves. Elektra lay back with her hands behind her head. She wriggled her feet, rustling the leaves.

  “It feels good to be back… back home.”

  “I second that,” replied Elektra wistfully.

  The wind picked up and the oak leaves swirled around them. Suddenly the wind stopped and Elektra laughed as she swatted at the raining leaves. Ash laughed so hard that his sides hurt. Their fingertips touched and Ash held Elektra’s hand, not wanting the moment to end.

  When Ash and Elektra arrived back at the camp, Zack and Rania sat a short distance away, chatting animatedly while they sharpened their swords. Chance, on the other hand, appeared solemn. He waited alongside the tree where Pandora was tethered. Seated on his rolled-up sleeping mat, he scuffed his boots in the sand.

  Ash approached Chance.

  Chance leapt off his improvised chair, and said rudely, “Where the heck have you been?”

  Elektra waltzed over to Pandora, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. Before Ash answered, Elektra said, “For a walk in the woods.”

  Ash knew immediately that Chance would misconstrue Elektra’s answer.

  “A walk, or a kiss?” he snapped.

  Elektra turned her back on him, which made Chance even more irritated. He didn’t have the foggiest idea what they’d been doing in the woods, so, in agitation, he grabbed his sleeping-mat and flung it against the tree, spooking Pandora.

  “What’s wrong with you?’ Elektra chided him. Pandora flattened her ears and Elektra stroked her muzzle, calming her.

  “You’ve both changed. Since you’ve – oh never mind, don’t worry about it!” Chance retorted.

  “I was going to tell you.” Ash shot him an angry look. “But with an attitude like that and if you get angry over trivial things, then we’re not going to include you in future.”

  “You never include me in the first place.”

  Ash cut Chance short. “I can’t discuss this out in the open.” He waved his hand toward the soldiers standing nearby.

  Chance bent down and scooped up his mat. He dusted if off and mumbled, “Does Zack know yet?” A hint of jealousy laced his voice.

  “No – only Elektra,” Ash replied abruptly.

  “Ash, you don’t need me around to tell him,” Elektra said tetchily as she untethered Pandora. “I’m going to groom Pan. See you later.” She stalked off without giving Chance a sideways glance, leading Pandora alongside her.

  Ash cleared his throat. “Let�
�s walk this way.”

  Chance followed him and they strolled out of earshot from the soldiers.

  “I don’t know how it happened… or even why… but…” Their voices grew fainter as they disappeared deeper into the woods. Ash explained to Chance about his new powers that gave him control over all the elements.

  “Damn! That’s unbelievable. Imagine, you could defeat Drakon in one move!”

  Ash shook his head. “It’s more of a curse than anything else. Drakon will want me dead now, more than ever before.”

  Chance threw back his head and chuckled. “He won’t be able to kill you.”

  “I wish you’d take me seriously. This isn’t a laughing matter… it could change everything.”

  “So what are you going to do about it?”

  “I’m not sure but I’m going to tell Zack. I might need your help to get him away from Rania. I don’t want her to find out. She’ll tell Zahir.”

  “Zack! Why him?” Chance questioned huffily. “You should tell Kyros instead.”

  “I’ve already discussed this with Elektra.”

  Chance folded his arms.

  “We’re keeping it a secret for now – only between the four of us. When we’re in contact with the inside and we find the other Guardians, I’ll tell Thanos. I trust him.”

  “But… but Kyros is your mentor. Surely he’d know what to do?”

  “He’s close to Maksimos and, well, we already know that Maksimos has ulterior motives.”

  “I see… You’ve both made your decision.” Chance turned and stalked off, heading back to the camp.

  Ash sighed and the thought crossed his mind that it would have been easier if he’d left Chance behind in the Middle Realm.

  Chapter 26

  Over the Wall

  Elektra slung her quiver across her back and leaped nimbly onto Pandora. It was close to midnight and the quartered moon had risen to its zenith. Slivers of silver moonbeams patterned the tree trunks below, while dancing shadows flickered throughout the woodland.