The Destiny of Amalah (106 page)

‘Bind him!’ she bellowed in a ferociously powerful voice.
‘Stones of blood, stones of earth, stones of power;
bind him now within this hour.’

As Amara chanted, the power from the tiara left its source and made its way to Rakan. Like Waldon, Kenaz and Bryce before him; Rakan succumbed to the power of the red energy that was now binding him. It began at his feet and encircled him upwards and as it grew, Amara stood opposite him; the two of them looked at each other, then Rakan looked beneath him to see that the force field had now closed over his friends and soldiers and that he was now powerless to help them.

Rakan closed his eyes and began to chant in his mind as the red energy encircled him and as it engulfed him, he kept his eyes closed, continuing to chant. He managed to move one of his arms and he brought it up to his waist with his palm facing outwards; he touched the red energy and he managed to draw power from it and as he drew the power from it, he sent a bolt of it out in Amara’s direction with all of his might.

The energy shot out and went straight for Amara and as it returned to her, she held out the chevron to absorb the power but as she attempted to defend herself from the incoming energy; something happened that surprised both of them. The energy changed colour and turned into neon blue and fed back into the energy that was holding onto Rakan. All of the energy then turned yellow and before long, the energy that was holding Rakan disappeared and was now travelling between his hand and Amara’s chevron and the two stayed in a powerful deadlock, that neither one was prepared to break.

The deadlocked energy fuelled itself and grew more powerful by the second and soon it reached full capacity and it was then, that if proved far too powerful for both of them and it exploded into a massive bright white light, sending both of them flying out of the area of the force field.

Rakan was sent flying north and Amara was sent flying south and when they landed, they were both unconscious. Michael, Ellora and Garrick had seen what had happened and they ran to find Amara to see if she was alright.

By now, the guard were well in to Amalah City and the soldiers of the dark army had followed. When they had left the forest, the same fate befell the soldiers from the forest as it had the soldiers in the east. They were trapped by another force field and Waldon and Kenaz were placed in the centre of it. Now all that remained was to put the last few fighting soldiers in the field with the rest of the dark army and so Garrick, Michael and Ellora ran to find Amara, leaving the others to do what was required.

The three of them found Amara at the same time and they rushed to where she lay. Michael was scared and horrified to find her lying there unconscious and he wondered if she were dead or alive.

‘Amara!’ he shouted. ‘Oh, god no, Amara,’ he shouted as he ran towards her.

Garrick was at Amara’s side first and he knelt down besides her to see if she was alright.

‘Is she?’ Michael asked, afraid of the answer but needing to know it anyway.

‘She’s alive Michael,’ Garrick said to his friend. ‘She’s alive but not conscious,’ Garrick said again.

Michael dropped to his knees and knelt by Amara, he took hold of her hand and kissed it and stroked her face. ‘Thank the gods,’ he cried. ‘Thank the gods,’ he said again as he continued holding onto her.

Ellora knelt besides Garrick and looked at her sister and then the two men. She held their gaze for a while and fresh tears streamed down her face and Garrick hugged her and comforted her.

‘You know what this means?’ he said, looking up to see the edges of the force fields in the sky and then looking down to look at Ellora and Michael.

‘No – what?’ Ellora asked.

‘It’s over,’ Garrick said. ‘This war – it’s over.’

Chapter 32

As the remainder of the dark army were forced into their mystical prison; Garrick, Ellora and Michael remained at Amara’s side. She was still unconscious and she showed no sign of coming to.

‘Will she be alright?’ Michael asked Garrick with alarm.

‘Yes Michael,’ Garrick replied. ‘She is sleeping, deeply unconscious and I do not know what makes her so, but I know that inevitably she will awake,’ Garrick said to his friend.

‘But Garrick, nothing wakes her,’ Michael said, clearly distraught as he held onto Amara’s hand.

‘She will awake Michael,’ Garrick said gently. ‘But let us take her to Dariel and he will, I am sure, set your mind at rest.’

‘Yes,’ Michael said with some relief.

Michael scooped Amara up into his arms and then he stood up, Ellora and Garrick stood up also and they made their way to the palace to find Dariel. As the walked through Amalah their eyes took in the sight of the City and they were shocked by what they saw. Much of the City was up in flames, and much of it lay in rabble and ruin; among the rabble and ruin lay dead bodies, scattered randomly across the land. Some were solitary figures and the others had fallen in two’s and three’s – while others had fallen by the dozen or more.

‘Thank the gods she is not awake to see this,’ Michael said as he surveyed the devastation around him.

‘Yes, she truly is fortunate in that respect,’ replied Garrick.

‘Even if I had not seen it, I would have felt it,’ Ellora said sadly.

‘We all feel it princess,’ Garrick said, as he placed an arm around her shoulder. ‘But I am aware that you feel more acutely than the rest of us,’ he said before he became silent once again.

The three of them looked on as the guard, islanders and sorcerers continued with their work and they watched as the prisoners of the dark army fought against the magical prison that they were being held captive in. Ellora jumped with fright when they would hurl themselves against the magical barrier, in fear that they would break through and the fighting would begin again.

‘There is no escape for them,’ Garrick said reassuring her.

‘I hope not,’ she said looking at him.

‘They can enter the prison but they cannot leave it.’

The three of them and the unconscious Amara finally made their way to the palace, which had remained relatively unscathed. Garrick and Häkan had secured the palace well, for those of the dark army who had tried to enter it, had found it impenetrable and apart from a few scorch marks and brick damage; the palace remained in tact with only superficial damage.

‘You and Häkan prepared the palace well,’ Michael said approvingly.

‘I wonder how Häkan fares?’ Ellora asked.

Garrick looked at Ellora and Michael and by the expression on his face, the two of them knew that Häkan had not survived; but they waited for Garrick to tell them anyway. They waited for him to remove that last flicker of doubt and so they remained silent, waiting to hear of Häkan’s fate.

‘Häkan fell in battle,’ Garrick said slowly and Ellora bit her lip and let out a cry and Michael bowed his head in grief. ‘He died at the hands of Kenaz,’ Garrick continued as he looked at the two of them. ‘But our dear friend did not spend his dying moments alone; Callan Knight was by his side,’ Garrick finished.

‘Another unbearable loss,’ Michael said wretchedly.

‘I know my friend,’ Garrick said emotionally.

‘Oh Garrick,’ Ellora said tearfully, as she began to cry.

Garrick took her in his arms and once again, Ellora held onto Garrick as she sobbed for another loved one. The three of them stayed there for a while; Ellora crying as she held onto Garrick and he and Michael lost in their own thoughts and grief and thinking about their losses. When Ellora had finished crying, she stepped back slightly form Garrick and Garrick still held onto her.

‘Princess,’ he said with concern.

‘I’ll be alright,’ she said to him.

Garrick looked at her searchingly and she nodded back at him, he nodded slowly and then looked at Michael and the three of them made their way into the palace. When they arrived, Michael carried Amara up to her room and Ellora followed, while Garrick went in search of Dariel. When Michael and Ellora reached Amara’s room, Ellora ran ahead and opened the door for Michael. Michael entered and went straight to Amara’s bed, where he placed her gently on it. He sat by her side and held her hand and stroked her hair as he wished for her to wake up. Ellora stood by him and looked at her sister and Michael in turn. She then went to the other side of the bed and sat by her sister.

‘She will awake Michael,’ Ellora said vehemently.

‘I hope so,’ Michael said.

‘She has to,’ Ellora said, in the same vehement tone.

The two of them waited in silence and watched over Amara until Dariel and Garrick arrived. After what seemed like an eternity, Dariel and Garrick knocked and entered the room and Dariel want straight to Amara’s side. He checked her over thoroughly and Michael, Ellora and Garrick waited nervously as he tended to her. When he had finished, he stepped back and turned to look at the three anxious faces.

‘Well?’ Michael asked immediately.

‘Her sleep is deep,’ Dariel said carefully.

‘Will she come out of it?’ Michael asked.

‘Yes,’ Dariel answered, but hesitated before he spoke again. ‘But…’

‘But what?’ Michael said quite aggressively.

‘But I do not know when,’ Dariel replied. ‘Physical injury was not the only cause of the Empress’s state of unconsciousness; in fact it was not even the main cause’.

‘We know,’ Ellora said. ‘She went and fought against Rakan. The two of them fought each other with magic, and what can only be described as magical energy, must have grown beyond both of their control. For it sent them both flying through the air, as it exploded.’

‘I see,’ said Dariel gravely. ‘Well I will assume that whatever happened to the Empress has happened to Rakan,’ Dariel said shaking his head. ‘She will awake,’ Dariel said firmly. ‘But as I have already said – I do not know when.’

‘What can we do for her now?’ Ellora asked.

‘Apart from remain by her side – nothing,’ Dariel answered.

‘Thank you Dariel,’ Garrick said, as he escorted the man out of the Empress’s room.

Dariel left the room and the three were left standing around Amara. They looked at her and they looked at each other and stayed silent for a while before Garrick broke the silence.

‘I was wrong before,’ Garrick said flatly. ‘When we were in the forest and by the Empresses’ side, I was wrong to say it was over.’

‘Rakan,’ Ellora said simply.

‘Yes Rakan,’ Garrick said.

‘If he is in the same state as Amara then there is no need to worry just yet,’ Michael said looking at Garrick.

‘And if he is not?’ Garrick asked.

‘If he were not, he would be doing everything in his power to free his five brethren and his army so I say that he – like Amara, is in a deep state of sleep.’

‘I hope so,’ said Garrick.

‘Garrick ask yourself, would Rakan run and hide, would he run into the forest and the shadows without a fight?’

‘No he would not,’ Garrick replied confidently.

‘No he would not,’ repeated Michael.

‘Ellora, can you sense him?’ Garrick asked.

‘I could, but I will not,’ said Ellora.

‘Why not?’ Garrick asked surprised.

‘If I connected with him, I could wake him,’ Ellora said.

‘And that we cannot have,’ said Michael.

‘I will send parties of the guard to go and search for him this very minute,’ said Garrick. ‘In fact I will go myself.’

‘Garrick no!’ Ellora said, suddenly very frightened.

‘Ellora, I must.’

‘No, please don’t go, please.’

‘Ellora, this way we have a better chance of finding him.’

‘Garrick, please do not go. When Kalon came across Rakan…’ she said, but then trailed off.

‘I saw him in the forest,’ Garrick said to her. ‘I saw him in the forest and we spoke and he did not harm me,’ Garrick said to Ellora, omitting to tell her the rest of the conversation that had taken place. ‘Ellora, I must go, I must put an end to this once and for all – this
must
end now.’

‘Garrick,’ she choked.

‘I will return,’ he said emphatically, as he took hold of her and tried to convince her.

‘Promise me,’ she said emotionally.

‘I promise,’ he said to her.

Garrick looked at Ellora for the longest time and then he looked at Michael, who simply nodded and with that, Garrick made his way out of the door and left Michael and Ellora to watch over Amara. The two of them went to Amara’s side and sat down and as they watched over her, their thoughts went from Garrick to Amara, to the events that had taken place, and then to Rakan; before they came back to Garrick and Amara, and on their thoughts went in the same cycle until they could think no more and tiredness overcame them. As their tiredness overtook them, they simply stared at the Empress, or at each other and in to space. Ellora was finding it difficult to stay awake and she stifled her yawns whenever she could but soon, her tiredness grew and she found it next to impossible to keep her eyes open.

‘Ellora,’ Michael said gently. ‘Ellora,’ he said again and this time, Ellora opened her eyes suddenly and looked at Michael. ‘Ellora, go to bed,’ he said softly.