Chapter 18
Illusions and Truths
Anger burst forth from him, he needed her removed from the protection that had been given her, and he had almost done it, but then the High Prince had to personally intervene. He needed her to end up with one of his own, that was why he had sent the girl to find the First, but yet again she had failed him. He thought of ending her in that very moment, then decided against doing so… For now, she still had a duty he would need her to serve. He still believed that the advantage was his, for he had the lord Morgadon as his puppet, his prey would soon be returned to him. For the flower was his, and to him it would return the time of his next rising was nearing.
They traveled with no stops, Ryan forcing his tired wings to stay on course, a sound of joy emanated from his inner being as the wind shifted. Locking his wings in place he allowed the wind to carry him, and it did, it carried him the last day of their journey bringing them to the overpass to Aion, Ryan landed waiting as his passengers dismounted from his back. Altering forms Ryan gazed upon the path before them. Morgan along with Leora moved so that they were standing beside him, the two arriving at the same time as Ryan had, Morgan having led Leora through the shadows.
“It seems that this passage is not one that many prefer to venture through.” Ryan silently agreed with Leora’s assessment. The place had a rundown look to it, the stone laid path cracked and decaying into ash. Following the laid walkway with his eyes he looked up to the two white cedar trees that stood on either side of it, both bearing half of the realm Aion’s seal.
“Are we to simply stand here and look, or shall we cross over?” Ryan shot a momentary glance Morgan’s way, though he knew that the other was right, he had no desire to crossover and into Aion, the ageless realm, and the one said to have been most ravaged by the Dweller’s first rising. Yet still they had a mission that was important for them to complete and they would do so. With his resolve firmly set in place Ryan breathed in deeply the air of Addar his homeland, then turning to the other he said, “Cody you will need a weapon now, Aion is not one of the more civilized realms, we also have no knowledge of who claims deity over the lands.” Cody nodded his consent, accepting the blade that was handed him by Morgan who agreed whole heartedly with Dryan.
“Leora,” she turned her attention to Ryan, “I want you to make sure you have an eye on Amori at all times, you are the one out of all of us who knows these lands the best.” She nodded.
Morgan looked to them all then said, “The two of you will walk in the center of us, Cody, Dryan and I will be behind and in front of you.” Fastening his gaze on Dryan he continued, “Me and Cody will walk at the back, you are our best tracker and the one who can spot things at a farther distance than the rest of us, so you will take the lead.” Reaching out his hand he asked for the map, “Leora I want you to draw the path that you believe is the best one for us to follow, Dryan will be given the map.” Doing as Morgan had said, Leora drew the path that she believed was the one they should take. Once that was done they all prepared for the pass over, Leora halted them for a moment, “Remember that Aion works on a different timeline than any of the other realms that we have ever entered. It represents eternity and it shows those who enter it both their past, present and future, it is also a deceiver, not all that it will show you is truth.” She looked to Morgan, “Not even an Eidos can see into and interpret the shadows, that it produces, correctly, if we lose focus it will be hard to find our way again.”
With their path and the instructions laid the five followed the road before them, passing between the two cedars and into the realm of Aion.
Amori walked side-by-side with Leora, as she tried to understand what it was that she was seeing. Unlike the two other realms that she had entered this one was much different just as Leora had said, she watched in an awed silence as before her very eyes the place shifted. One moment it was as it was when they had entered into the place, a desert like waste land, with scarce any trees or greenery. Then the place would shift and it became the lushest and most beautiful place one could ever dream of living in. The sun would then shine bright and full, the sky a deep fluctuating purple color, and then a step later it was burning, its inhabitants running in terror as fiery hail rained down from the heavens. Then a moment later it would start all over again, each time showing more pieces of the past, and what she believed was to be the realms emanate future, then to as it was in its present state.
Unlike Amori Leora kept her eyes forward ignoring the happenings around her, she had come to Aion once before with her mentor Urian. He had been a good mentor to her, all the way up to the day of his death, the morn when he had traveled back into the soul of Aion; a part of her wondered what had brought him to make such a foolhardy decision. Giving herself a mental shake she tried to pull her wandering mind out of the murk of her past, knowing that the terrain would feed off of her drifting thoughts.
Ryan walked ahead off the rest of the group, his step not as confident as it had been when he had first stepped over. As he ambled on one who he had long since tried to forget appeared before him.
Arms opened wide Charis ran to her big brother, and was received readily into his waiting arms. Lifting her into his arms Dryan hugged his sister tightly, “Charis!” Placing her down but not releasing her he gazed into burgundy eyes, they glinted as twin ember shinning bright for him, “It has been a long time brother.”
He nodded, “How…?”
“I was brought here so that I could recover.” Her eyes drifted to something behind him, as he was about to turn to see what it was as well she reached out placing a hand on his arm. “We must catch up, it has been six years since we had last spoke.” Pulling away she took ahold of his hand, “Come I want to show you something.”
Leora reached out to Dryan but he was pulled away from her, farther he was dragged, by what, she did not know. She ran after him, ignoring Morgan’s calling out for her to stop, she would not lose yet another to these horrid lands. Before she had time to register it the time shifted to a time in the past. She came to an abrupt halt, spinning this way and that she sought out the others but they were not there. Leora felt the rising fear as she realized what had happened; unlike before when everything shifted at once this time it had only shifted for her. Aion taking her to a place in time with where she had not even existed, she waited hoping that things would shift once again but it did not. Thus leaving her stuck in a time of the realms past.
Leora turned at the sound of someone shouting, as the man drew closer she could make out what he was yelling, “RUN!” Confusion shot through her, as the man stopped in front of her, “What is happening?”
“Negel has come, we must RUN!”
“Who is Negel?” He ignored her question, grabbing hold of her arm he proceeded to dragged her along, hurrying them as he mumbled under his breath. As she was about to ask the question again time shifted again, Leora found herself standing before an irked Morgan.
Morgan stared down at the female before him, “If we all start wandering off then we will never make it out of Aion.” He searched her gaze, “We will find him, but we do not want to be picked off one by one which is what shall happen if we do not think before we act.” She nodded her understanding and submission.
A hush fell over the land, as it settled. The silence stifling, Morgan looked to the direction from which they had come.
Instead of looking to the direction which Morgan’s gaze had turned as Amori and Leora had, Cody looked to others and for the first time since he had met Morgan he saw a emotion that he would have never thought to see pass over the usually controlled face. It was true fear.
It did not take much thought on his part to come to some conclusion of what Morgan out of them all would be afraid of, “What did your father send after us?”
Morgan turned his regard to Cody, and though he had hid most to all of it, Cody could still see the remnants of shock that lingered in the Morgan’s eyes. “This is not the doing of my father, he has sent after us Taher who is of no concern.” Morgan’s gaze became riveted on Leora as he continued on, “This is the doing of another for Tselel Legeon inhabits these regions.”