The Will of the Three by Wayne Ellis - HTML preview

Chapter 9

 

“Well, if it isn’t the prodigal son, Ar’desh,” said the Wraith.

“Salura, there will be consequences for your atrocities against the Guardians,” said Arden.

The Master's guise had hidden her from the eyes of the Incarnations. To fight Arden now, she would have to let go of the whole solar system, which she was reluctant to do.

“I’m not concerned,” said Salura.

Salura decided it was best to reduce her power over the solar system and increase her attention on fighting Arden. Thus, she diverted most of her powers onto Rune, increasing the wind and rain. Thunder and lightning followed.

Suddenly, clockwise powers started swirling around Arden’s hands and heart. He blasted Salura with the positive destructive energy and threw her many kilometres across Rune.

Salura sprang back from the other side of the continent, flew into the air and directed large spirals of anti-clockwise energy toward Arden’s location. Trees exploded all around the area. The Guardians ran for cover as Arden responded with more of his powers.

Arden fired waves of mantric energy at the Wraith. In the air, she struggled to dodge the onslaught as she fired her powers. Suddenly, both powers collided, and there was a loud boom which knocked her out of the sky. She landed roughly, not too far away.

“Let’s uproot her,” said Calana to the other two Guardians.

The girls ran toward the Planetary Oracle and began firing their weapons at the thick, translucent tentacle that had buried itself into the Oracle.

Rune's weather suddenly became much worse. The sky was a raging storm, with lightning strikes and mini-tornadoes springing up everywhere.

“I’ve got too good a hold for you to stop me,” snarled Salura, racing toward the Oracle.

The girls ignored her and continued to fire at the tentacle.

While Salura was distracted, Arden grabbed hold of one of her tentacles, spun her around and around then let her go. She rocketed into the air and broke orbit.

“Create a vortex around it,” said Arden. “I’ll keep her occupied.”

Rune represented the Realm of Innocence in Pern’s solar system, and the solar system represented the Realm of Innocence in the entire quadrant. Salura was in a prime position to project her collective sorcery to easily bring down the other eight adjoining Planetary Oracles as well. This would further darken the Shadows in adjoining infected systems, causing the galaxy to rotate in the opposite direction.

Arden flew into space in time to see Salura directing her powers against the planet’s atmosphere. He engaged her with his powers, but she took off, spinning around Rune in an anti-clockwise direction. Massive cyclonic storms start to appear around the planet, with Arden close at Salura’s heels.

He changed direction and confronted her in the next rotation of the planet, but she suddenly broke orbit, leaving behind a fiery blaze.

Arden quickly dived after her, catching the Shadow Witch as the fire on their burning bodies was extinguished. He fired his powers at her, stopping her graceful ascent, and she crashed through the forest like an out-of-control airliner. However, by the time Arden landed near her, Salura was standing up grinning at him. 

In the meantime, the three Guardians had created a vortex around the tentacle buried in the Oracle. The powers of the vortex were strong, but the Wraith’s powers were stronger.

“It’s getting too cold,” said Sari, within the vortex. “Regardless of our extra powers, we’re still going to freeze.”

“In that case, we have to keeping going until we do,” said Calana. “Guardians never retreat. That’s our duty.”

They were both right, thought Penni. It was as cold as Mars now; a normal human would have perished long ago. But they also had a duty to protect transformed worlds beyond this point. “Maybe we don’t have to freeze. Just direct some of that attention of yours, to pray for the Goddess to keep us warm enough to continue to fight.”

The Oracle began to glow after a while, and they did feel the heat, which in turn increased their powers.

“You can feel it, can’t you, Ard’esh? You can feel that your Guardians are failing?” Salura asked.

She wasn’t talking about the local Guardians particularly, but all those fighting across the nine systems. Arden didn’t feel any human pain, suffering or loss. He didn’t feel any physical discomforts, but he had lived enough human lifetimes to know what they must be going through. Right now, he knew that the temperature was well below zero.

“Their wills are beyond defeat, Salura. Their wills are beyond death,” said Arden.

“If they die, you’ve failed,” said Salura triumphantly. “We now have a good enough hold on this whole quadrant to put a halt to your Guardian advancements.” She put her hands in the air and looked into the stormy sky. Lightning flashed. “The Dark Realms are heading back to Udicia and Earth! Back to Caldon!"

Suddenly, a global blizzard set in across Rune, and the air temperature plummeted. Large cracking noises could be heard all around as the landscape was snap-frozen.

The girls were making little progress on the Wraith’s evil foundation, when everything suddenly went silent and peaceful. As they heard the loud, cracking noises around them, they suddenly became extremely powerful. Sari noticed that Penni and Calana had sprouted white, crystallised wings. Her sisters looked like beautiful angels.

“Penni! Calana! Look, we’ve got wings!”

The realisation dawned on Penni. They were dead. Their guardianship had crossed over to the other side. They were Guardian Angels.

Calana looked at her physical body from outside of it, completely covered in snow. Then she turned to look at the Planetary Oracle. “Now, let’s pull this bitch out!”

“Oh, Ar’desh, how long has it been? Eleven, twelve thousand years of wars across countless worlds? How ironic that I’ll finally claim my rightful place as the Queen of this entire galaxy!” Salura grinned an evil grin. “First, I’ll take out her number one son.” She grabbed Arden with several of her spidery tentacles, lifting him up like a giant spider admiring its prey before eating it.

Arden’s powers had become weaker as the Shadows began to overcome the local galaxy. He drew some of his power from the Guardian collectivity. Salura’s powers had become much more powerful as her hold became stronger.

Arden fired his powers, but she moved him around so they’d shoot into the air.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment.” A large tentacle, shaped like a spear, headed toward Arden.

She stopped talking suddenly and looked toward the Oracle, which was several kilometres away. “What have those little wenches done? I thought they were dead!”

“Sorry, tried to warn you, Salura,” said Arden falling gracefully on both of his feet. He hit her with a blast of his powers, and Salura was thrown in the direction of the Oracle. She crashed close to it, as Arden flew off after her.

When he arrived there he noticed the vortex had taken on a mind of its own. The Guardians no longer had any control over it. Ard'esh had now taken over.

Arden charged at Salura knowing she would be losing her grip by now, with no direct power over the Realm of Innocence. He hit her and she flew into the air, crashing through the trees. There, she lay still.

He looked toward Salura, but was more concerned about the Guardians. He could see a large group of Guardian Angels congregating around the vortex. A lot of Guardians crossed over today, he thought. The three girls were talking to the new arrivals. He quickly made his way toward them, but spinning powers shot out of the vortex and struck him. His powers that had been blocked by Salura were coming back, thanks to the Guardians.

And just in time, too. A loud rustling noise was coming from the forest.

A dark form quickly loomed into view. Six red eyes glared at him from the front of a monstrous thorax. Without the bonds of the local Universe holding her back, she could easily take her Shadow form. She was the Queen of the Shadows; a giant black spider.

“You look like a very tasty meal to me,” she mocked. “I have no restrictions on me now, Ar’desh.”

A golden, blazing Oracle suddenly materialised in Arden’s hands. He held it up in anticipation. “You may try.” He threw the Oracle, which soared through the air, a burning tail trailed behind it.

Salura quickly responded with rounds of spinning disks of web, but the Oracle managed to break through the tangle and severed one of her eight appendages. She shrieked, but the leg quickly started reforming.

She scuttled quickly toward Arden, trying to get him with her huge fangs, but the golden Oracle changed into a long, gleaming sword, and he struck her at the front of the thorax, leaving a large gash between her eyes.

Salura flew back, startled, losing her stance momentarily.

“You getting a little slow in your old age, Salura?” asked Arden. “Perhaps I should get one of the Guardians to continue what they started.”

Mention of the Guardians angered her, and she quickly looked around the vortex to spot them.

“Where the hell did the little wenches go, anyway?”

“Like you, we’re still here,” said Calana to Hiler who had approached the three Guardians.

“I see,” said Hiler, looking at their white, crystallised wings. “Even after death the fight continues.”

“So it seems,” said Calana. She stared at all the Guardians who they had slayed as Shadows. “Are they cool with us?”

“Absolutely, they don’t blame you for their deaths. They see this as their destiny. They don’t mind which front they fight on,” said Hiler. He grinned mischievously. “These Sorcerers think they’re so clever, projecting their invisible armies, but the Goddess has all that covered, too.”

When he referred to Sorcerers he meant Lords, Masters and Wraiths, as that was what they were. The Lords’ powers spanned a community, Masters’ powers spanned a nation and Wraiths’ powers spanned a galaxy. “It’s pretty bad out there in the Dark Realms.”

“I know,” said Calana.

“So are you our boss now?” asked Sari, curiously.

“No,” said Hiler. “Arden said to wait here for him. He has other plans for you.”

“Thanks, Captain,” said Penni, watching the Angels walking one-by-one through the vortex. “God speed.”

Hiler saluted and followed the last angel through.

“They’re not far,” said Arden. He eyed the vortex as it started to increase its rotation. He could feel his powers increasing as the Incarnations and Guardians across the other nine systems won battles to regain their respective Planetary Oracles. But this one was a major block; he needed to remove Salura soon. “This quadrant is in dire need of cleansing.”

Salura was very cunning; she could sense Arden’s scheme, although he had the best poker face. She shot a web into the trees and started swinging toward Arden, shooting venom at him from her deadly fangs. This wasn’t just a poison; it was like acid. Everywhere it landed was like a downpour of acid rain!

Arden formed an Oracle shield shaped like an umbrella. He could see all the grass, bushes and trees around him being instantly dissolved. It was like reality was disappearing around him!

But Arden wasn’t deterred. When the deadly torrent of acid stopped for a moment, he instantly formed a golden bow and fired multiple white-hot bolts at her. They fired like mini missiles, striking the spider all around her body.

Salura screamed and fell from where she was hanging in the trees. She crashed into the bushes upside down, her eight legs struggling to get her upright.

Arden didn’t waste a moment, a sword forming from his golden Oracle. He raced toward her and jumped up onto her huge abdomen. He dived toward the region of the heart, at the centre of the thorax, holding his sword up high.

Salura shot a web, catching the sword which she flung into the bush. Arden slipped and slid down the side of her thorax and landed on the ground below.

She managed to get herself back onto her legs and dived toward Arden with her huge fangs. Arden rolled away as the fangs penetrated the ground where he had just been.

Arden formed powers around his hands and heart and blasted Salura, who slid along the ground toward the raging vortex. He reached back, and the golden Oracle returned to his hand. He held it up, and a large clockwise spiral of energy formed. The energy shot out and blasted Salura again.

She was picked up and heading toward the vortex when she shot out a web toward the closest tree. She quickly shot out two more webs and created a small padded area.

There she sat, with only the web stopping her from being pulled into the vortex. She started losing her spidery form and shape-shifted back into human form. She looked much smaller amid the web.

“I think you’re caught up in your own web,” said Arden. He watched as the three Guardians headed toward each end of the thick strands holding her. “Seems like you didn’t make too many friends while you were here, either.”

Salura couldn’t see the Guardians before, but they now suddenly came into focus.

“Oh, ladies! You know that deal about becoming my elite Masters is still on. If you help me down we can arrange your...”

“You are kidding, aren’t you, lady?” snapped Calana. “Can’t you see we’re dead? I think you’ve spun your last lie.” She brought a shining, crystallised sword down on her strand. The patch of web fell closer to the vortex.

Salura looked around nervously and said, “Penni, Sari dear, be good girls and help me down.” She was using their mother’s voice.

“You’re not our mother!” snapped Penni. She struck the strand with her Guardian sword but it didn’t break. Salura swung even closer to the vortex but eventually came back to the same point. She had a horrified look on her face as she could see where the vortex led to.

“ Ar’desh, send me anywhere, but not to her!”

“I’m sorry, Salura, but she insisted. Penni!”

Penni struck the strand and it broke. Salura swung into the mouth of the vortex.

“Oh, Ar’desh, get me down. I’ll come back with the Incarnations! Anything, don’t let me go!” She looked toward the end of the strand. “Sari. That’s a good dear. Now pull me toward you. You and I, my little mouse, we can...Sari...Sari...where have you gone?” She looked down, and the four of them were standing down below. “Oh. Thank the One. You’re going to get me down!” She was hysterical now.

Sari held up a bow and was testing the invisible string on it. She shot a bolt into a log, which exploded.

“Good shot, sis,” said Penni. “Maybe you should use my Oracle. Well, when I’m alive...”

“Sari, Sari, what are you doing, my dear?” asked the hysterical Wraith.

“Just practising my aim.” She aimed the bow above Salura’s head and fired. It missed.

“No, try using her hair as a target. See that bit sticking up.”

Salura quickly pushed it down, but the bolt went through her hand.

“Sari, don’t do it, my little mouse. Ahhhhh!”

“A good marksman should always shoot to kill, not torture their target,” said Penni. “Try this. Become part of the bow. Be part of the weapon. Feel the strength of pulling the invisible twine. Look sharply at the target.”

“Sari, no! No!”

Sari released the bow, and the bolt struck the strand.

Salura fell into the vortex. “This is not the end. This is only the beginning of the end.” The vortex closed up and disappeared behind her.

“I didn’t mean to terrorise her before she died,” said Sari.

“Don’t worry,” whispered Penni. “I think she deserved it.”

Battered after fighting the second most powerful Shadow in the galaxy, Arden managed to form a Mandala and disappeared. He visited all the other nine systems.

He destroyed other Wraiths in other worlds, but in most cases they decided to retreat. Guardians who hadn’t yet defeated the Masters were now able to so.

The nine realms were restored, without the Queen’s powers holding down the Realms of Innocence, and their anti-clockwise movement slowed down and started to move back the other way.

Arden returned from his jaunt far and wide around the galaxy. A golden Mandala appeared before the Guardians who were hanging around their dead physical bodies, waiting for his return.

“Just had to fix up a few loose ends,” Arden said. Subtle powers immediately formed around his hands, and he directed them toward their dead bodies. The girls suddenly felt their angelic forms being drawn back toward their physical forms. For a while, they hovered over their foreheads, before transforming into a row of seven Golden Stars. The Golden Stars penetrated each girl’s forehead, going in one by one.

Calana was the first to pull her physical body out of the snow, overjoyed that she was having this experience once again. The other two girls also stirred back to life.

“You brought us back,” said Calana.

“The Goddess needs you. I need you,” said Arden. “Your wills have helped to win this great battle.” He paused, looking admiringly at the three. “You see, it’s not the physical fight that brings down the Shadows each time. It’s the surrender. Daniel also surrendered himself to the Great Juncture to defeat Gylith. This also took him beyond death and back. You now know that even after death the Guardians continue to do their work.

“Nonetheless, you have brought the Guardians up to a new level. But just because you acquired temporary powers of an Incarnation, doesn’t mean you’ve become one. You will never become Incarnations or Gods, but you'll continue to become closer and closer to them."

Penni said nothing. She stood admiring the sunshine that began pouring over Rune, melting the snow.

“What about Pern? They don’t have any Keepers and Guardians anymore?” asked Sari.

“You need not worry about all the Keepers and Guardians. There are plenty of candidate Gurus there who can step up to the plate. We’ve made up some time for them by dethroning their Queen. The Shadows will take a long time to recover from this loss.”

“Shouldn’t we stage an attack on their garrisons while they’re weak?” asked Calana.

Arden grinned, but not mockingly. “We’re not the military, my dearest Calana. We never stage sorties or campaigns against the Shadows. Admittedly, we are strategic and we do place our strengths where needed.

“No. As always, our best methods are neither offensive nor defensive, but collective; keeping our galactic family connected, strong, dedicated and faithful to the Goddess. We should also be reaching out to those poor souls who are beyond the borders of the Dark Realms. Except for the deepest and darkest Shadows, they are the ones who will one day join us.”

At that moment, a silver Mandala opened, and Daniel Withers walked through.

“Lord, ladies,” said Withers. He bowed toward Arden. “The impact of the death of the Queen is tremendous.”

“We did it together. Managing that entire fleet against such a massive assault was a feather in your cap, Admiral.” Arden grinned at Calana.

Withers frowned a little at the mention of Admiral, but quickly understood he missed a moment between Arden and Calana. He saluted mockingly.

“Yes, sir.”

“But, like I mentioned before, just because the Shadows declared war on us, doesn’t mean we’re at war with them. The Galactic Alliance is not a nation fighting against another nation, a race fighting against another race. We’ve found the truth; we found God. Most of those in the Dark Realms haven’t as yet. We’re part and parcel of the grand scheme to transform this galaxy, but they aren’t as yet. All those Shadows out there in the Dark Realms aren’t our enemies; a smaller number will never be brought back, but still they aren’t our enemies, either. It’s our duty to bring those who are under the influence of the Shadows to join us as we move further and further into those realms. I think human beings are now closer to knowing what their part is.”

A huge golden Mandala appeared behind him. He looked around at the four Guardians admiringly, before stepping through.

There was a long silence.

“He always does that,” said Withers. “He never stays for long idle talks and tea.” The three girls giggled. “But I do. After all, I’m human.” He gave the three sisters a hug. “So, you finally found out that you’re all sisters!”

“Yeah, the things we have to keep secret to hold this Universe together,” said Penni. She hugged Calana.

“She’s feisty, but she’s OK,” said Sari, also hugging her.

“Hey, little girl, watch it,” said Calana. “But I will take that back about you being out of your league here. That move on the Queen was really something.”

The three hugged each other for a while and then all looked up at Withers.

“Your newfound strengths will make Udicia a much more collective world. That’s the beauty of family; it’s the root of our unity.” He paused, staring at the glorious blue sky of Rune. “Now, about your being needed, I need you also, to help build Pern into a better place. On Earth and Udicia we enjoy the freedoms of the Goddess and the absence of the Shadows. Pern should also enjoy these freedoms. The Guardians will have a large presence here, more so than our worlds had. This is the fringe of the Dark Realms, and the state of Pern is far worse than they were beyond our borders. But, like Arden said, we won’t be here as a military build-up, or preparing for war, but to guide this world and share the knowledge that we are also still continuing to grasp.”

Three bronze Mandalas suddenly appeared behind the girls.

“Who would summon us so soon?” asked Penni, bewildered.

“That’s the Keeper colour,” said Withers. “It must be a powerful Keeper to open realms. You’d better jump through and see.”

The girls said goodbye to the Tenth Guardian and walked through the Mandalas.

The three girls materialised back in Udicia, in Eeonia, before Larn. He was standing in front of an altar with a photo of the Udician incarnated Goddess. Beside that photo was a bouquet of flowers, a candle and a large bronze Oracle.

Larn was wearing a Bersian Kimono, belted around the waist and moccasin-style shoes. He was overjoyed when he saw his three daughters together. Penni and Sari went to him and gave him a big hug.

"I thought I'd lost you," said Larn, "but here you are."

"Apparently, we're still needed," said Sari.

"You know us; we always manage to get out of trouble," said Penni.

"What about you, young lady?" asked Larn, looking at Calana.

"Bit of both, I guess," she said. She looked at the large Oracle on the altar. "Where did you get that?"

"Who else but the Goddess? I needed it to get me out of trouble," said Larn with a grin. "How do you think I got you here? Come here." Calana walked toward Larn and they hugged. "It’s been a long time. I missed you," he said.

Calana said nothing, not being accustomed to sentimental emotions. She'd spent years fighting the Shadows with no contact with family or friends. Besides, she hardly knew her father.

"Well, we should do something about our distant relationship," she managed to say.  

"Good idea," said Larn holding back tears of elation and joy. "I've prepared a little homecoming dinner."

"Oh, Dad," said Penni, looking at the large spread of wholesome foods, "where did you get time to prepare this fea..." She froze when she noticed Arden, Daniel and Benn sitting at the large table, chatting.

"Told you I do dinners," said Daniel, grinning. "I had to twist his arm to come." He was referring to Arden. "But I didn't have to twist his," he said, grinning at Benn.

"I'm glad you made it," said Benn. He motioned for Penni to sit next to him, and her face flushed a little.

"Well, I was officially dead up until an hour ago."

Benn passed Penni a small box. She took it and opened it. It was a beautiful Tyronian cluster ring, set with a mixture of diamonds and gemstones.

"Will you come back to Tyrone with me and be my wife?" asked Benn.

It was all happening so fast, she thought. "Yes, I will!"

Everyone burst out cheering and clapping.

"I love weddings," said Arden. "Let me marry you both at the Juncture."

"Yes, please," said Penni. She hugged her father who was elated at the news.

"Sounds like we have a lot to celebrate tonight," said Larn. "We celebrate the success in this phase of galactic transition, the re-union of family, and the engagement of this beautiful couple."

They all made a non-alcoholic toast with grape juice.

In the end, Benn and Penni were married between the Thal mountains in Tyrone, Udicia’s Great Juncture. It was the place on Udicia where the Left and Right Ways met.

Tremendous vibrations from the six realms came through like a torrent. It was the direct impact of Udicia’s support in the expansion of these vibrations further into the galaxy.

“On this day, on this joyous occasion, I unite Benn and Penni in divine matrimony,” said Arden, looking more like an angel than a priest.

Penni felt like she was in a fairy-tale wedding. She couldn’t believe it! It looked like a fairy-tale wedding as well! The Tyronian dress was similar to Cinderella’s. Benn was even wearing tight stocking-style pants with his suit.

The whole scene around them was enchanting, with many trees, rolling hills, and an abundance of birds and butterflies. The Tyronian palace could be seen like a shining jewel in the distance.

There were a lot of Tyronians at the wedding, as Benn was, after all, their President. Also, many of Penni’s Bersian relatives came from abroad. All the Keepers had come, also. Larn brought most of them through via the realms.

Later, at the reception inside the palace, Benn, Penni, Sari, Calana, Withers, Larn, Ulef, Sef, Viler, Remm, Meln and Arden managed to get together after hours of mingling with the other guests.

“I’m not sure how you did it, my dear,” said Benn. “Saved the galaxy, then came back to go through all this. I’m just about spent!”

"The night’s not over yet,” said Viler, winking at Penni.

“It was a beautiful wedding,” said Remm to Penni and Benn. “All the best.”

“Thanks,” said Penni.

“Congratulations,” said Ulef. “May you both enjoy years of happiness.”

“We will,” said Penni, looking at Benn admiringly.

“Well, congratulations to you both,” said Sef. He looked at Larn. “I’ll bet you’re a proud father.”

Larn kissed Penni on the cheek and shook Benn’s hand.

“As an extension of my speech on wishing the bride and groom all the best for the future, I also want to note that the President of Tyrone has now married the Guardian of the Central Way in the centre of the Realm of Forgiveness. Not only is this a joyous thing for the newly-weds, but it establishes a very important foundation for the future of Udicia.”

“Very much so,” said Withers. “On Earth, the Guardian and Keepers also ended up in positions of authority within their realms.”

“Yes, and that’s what makes this whole, in our honourable Arden’s words, ‘grand scheme of the galaxy’, so well-orchestrated. We’re just the actors, while the Goddess, Arden and other Incarnations are constantly preparing the stage for us,” said Larn.

There was a moment of silence. Sari looked at Calana, who was holding the bouquet she caught. “Looks like your stage is being prepared.”

Calana grinned. “I have no idea who it will be, because I’ve never had the time to court.”

“That’s the best way,” said Penni. “Leave it to the Goddess.”

“So what of the Guardians now?” asked Meln, looking at Arden. “I know they are growing with the help of the Keepers and Gurus, but what is their destiny?”

“This is a very good question, and I see that, although you are all powerfully in the moment, your outlook is also very dynamic,” said Arden.

“Humanity took a very long time to become enlightened and, as you know, there have been many Incarnations taking birth on your worlds to bring you up to the Great Juncture. Even the Father himself, the Goddess and the Son have taken birth many times. You now know who I am. I am that very son,” Arden held up his arms as if to embrace his younger brothers and sisters.

“On some worlds I have taken on the more destructive attributes of myself, mainly where there are no Guardians present. As you’ve seen, I’ve also used the more forgiving attributes of myself.” Arden paused. “I told the Guardians on Rune that we have a responsibility to save those lost souls in the Dark Realms, and we don’t have a lot of time left to do it.”

Everyone stood, captivated by Arden’s words.

“My  work with the Guardians has ended for now, but there are still another five hundred years with the remaining Incarnations. By that time, the Shadows  will be very powerful indeed. It will be just the right time for the Father to take his birth and lead them into one of the darkest times the Galaxy has ever seen. The Guardians may be very powerful by then, but so will the Shadows. The Dark Realms may have become much small