The Destiny of Amalah (114 page)

‘No Garrick – thank you,’ Amara said and Garrick turned and left the two of them alone in her study.

Amara stared at the wall and Michael spoke to her but she did not answer. She remained lost in her own world and the room began to spin.

‘Amara,’ Michael said, as he placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, startled and then as the tears began to well up in her eyes, she turned and ran from him. ‘Amara wait,’ he said as he ran after her.

Amara ran out of the room and along the corridor, she raced to the stairs and ran up them as quickly as she could and then she darted to her room, with Michael not far behind her. When she got to her room, she entered and slammed the door behind her and let out her sobs of frustration. Michael knocked on her door but did not wait for an answer before he entered and he rushed to where Amara was. Amara stood facing the curtains and she did not turn when Michael entered or came to her.

‘I thought it was over,’ she said, clearly beside herself.

‘It is,’ said Michael as he stood behind her.

‘No – it is not, and it may never be.’

‘It is Amara, you heard Dale – they will not return in our lifetime.’

‘But they
will
return,’ she said, the frustration in her body showing through.

‘Amara…’ Michael began.

‘The magic will be gone,’ she said tearfully. ‘They will be defenceless. Michael, we cannot leave our future defenceless,’ she said with desperation. ‘We have to do something,’ she said as she swung around to face him.

‘And we will,’ he promised her.

Amara pulled him towards her quite suddenly and she kissed him urgently and hungrily and he kissed her back. He took her in his arms and she held onto him tightly. She pulled back from him slightly and looked at him intensely and he looked back at her searchingly.

‘I need you,’ she said urgently, and with that Michael kissed her again.

She kissed him back with the same hunger and urgency and the two of them found a new level of passion and intensity, as they sought to forget about the despair and fear that they felt in that moment. They kissed and tore each others clothes off and touched and held each other and when they were both naked, Michael picked Amara up and took her to the bed where they made where they made arduous and urgent love, that was filled with fervour and desire and the two of them abandoned their fear and despair as they lost themselves in each others bodies and in that time they found some elation and peace, before they fell asleep in each others arms.

They awoke at the same time and Amara turned over so that they were facing each other. Michael put his arms around Amara’s waist and Amara stroked Michael’s arms and they gazed into each other’s eyes and smiled warmly at each other. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead and she sighed happily.

‘That was incredible,’ she said looking up at him.

‘For me too.’

‘I’m sorry I ran away from you,’ she said ruefully. ‘It’s just…it’s just…’

‘I know, I felt it too,’ he said reassuring her. ‘Do not be sorry, there is no need.’

‘I don’t know what to do,’ she said forlornly.

‘But you will and whatever happens we will face it together,’ he said lovingly.

‘I am glad you are here Michael,’ she said happily.

‘So am I,’ he said, as he pulled her even closer.

‘I don’t know if I can face the world today,’ she said dejectedly.

‘Then don’t,’ he said simply. She looked slightly puzzled and she looked at him with her puzzled expression. ‘Stay here – with me,’ he said decisively. ‘Forget about the palace and Amalah and the nations – just for this day.’

‘Michael I can’t.’

‘Yes you can,’ he said gently. ‘You have given so many – in fact you have given them all to the people and the nations. Take this one for yourself and spend it with me.’

‘Michael what will we do?’

‘I have some ideas,’ he said smiling mischievously at her.

‘Michael, you are incorrigible,’ she laughed.

‘I know,’ he said. ‘But still…’

‘There is so much to do.’

‘There always is and there always will be, so leave it alone for one day – please. When we return, we can do what needs to be done.

‘I don’t know what to say.’

‘Yes.’

‘Yes!’ she said suddenly.

‘Yes?’ he said surprised and smiling at the same time.

‘Yes,’ she said happily as she kissed him.

‘Yes,’ he said, equally as happy.

Michael pulled Amara towards him and kissed her and they made love again and when their lovemaking came to an end, they rose and showered together and when they were dressed, they snuck out of the palace. They left a note for Garrick and when he read it, he smiled to himself. Amara and Michael went out into the palace gardens and they ventured through the forests.

They walked together, talked together and laughed together. They held hands as they walked and they thoroughly enjoyed being alone with each other. They ventured into the city and the people greeted them warmly and when night fell, they returned to the palace and took dinner together.

They spent their evening on the balcony talking, laughing and having fun and as the night drew to a close; the two of them walked back to Amara’s room and stood outside her door when they got there.

‘It was the perfect day,’ she said looking up at him. ‘Thank you,’ she said as she stroked his face.

‘It was perfect for me too,’ he said tenderly.

She stepped forward and kissed him and as her lips met his, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her into her room. She continued to kiss him and the two of them made love through the night until they were both happily exhausted and they fell into a deep sleep that took them through to the next day.

When they awoke, they happily rose to face the next day and when the day was done, they spent time with each other. From those days on, the two of them would work hard during the day and at the end; if they were not spending time with Garrick, Callan, John, Dale, or their other friends – they would spend their time together.

As the weeks passed by, the seers in Amalah came to see Amara, Garrick and Michael and they said the same thing that Dale had said: Rakan and the others would return and when they did – the magic would be gone – and there would be no one left to face them. As the months passed by, seers from all over the nations came to see them and by now, the rumour had spread to all of the people and they began to panic.

‘I am still at a loss as to what to do,’ said Garrick.

‘As am I,’ said Michael. ‘Only the gods can help us now.’

‘Yes!’ said Amara. ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’ she said excitedly. ‘The gods can help us.’ she said.

‘Amara?’ Michael said.

‘We call on the gods and ask for their help – it is the only way.’

‘Will they help?’ Garrick asked.

‘I do not know but we can at least ask,’ Amara said enthusiastically. ‘We will call on goddess Callandra once again.’

‘Very well,’ Michael said.

‘I hope they answer,’ said Garrick.

Amara, Michael and Garrick called on the council and those who had helped them to fight, and Amara told them of what Dale and the seers had told them, and then she told them of her plan to call on the gods. The council and all those present agreed and two days later: Amara, Thaddeus, Zach, Imogen and the eight other sorcerers returned to the temple of the gods, and dressed all in white, they performed their ritual to call on the goddess Callandra. Now that they knew her name, it did not take her long to appear, and when she did; her face appeared in the sky just above Amara and all the people in the city, who had gathered to catch sight of her.

‘Why do you call on me?’ she asked impatiently.

‘Goddess Callandra,’ Amara said, as she fell to her knees and the people followed. ‘We call upon you and beseech you for your help once again.’

‘Why?’ she bellowed.

‘Those who worked for the demon god Salwar were banished to another world but the seers all over the land see that they return.’

‘Impossible,’ said Callandra.

‘Goddess, they see it. Years from now when we are long dead, all the magic that we know, will be lost to this world and so will the warriors and the seers. When the banished ones return, our world will be defenceless.’

‘Wait!’ Callandra commanded.

Callandra closed her eyes and as she looked at the earth through time and as she looked into their future, she saw for herself Rakan’s return and she saw in his hands, the Rock of Zarab. She opened her eyes suddenly and she looked at the Empress.

‘Indeed you are correct,’ she said. ‘I cannot tell you of your future and I cannot intervene any further than I am about to,’ she told her. ‘The magic is lost then but not now, and a human soul can go forward in time – indeed they often do.’

Callandra brought an arm out of the sky and brought it down to the temple where Amara stood. Amara saw that her hand alone was taller than she and it frightened her somewhat, but she kept her nerve. Callandra placed nine metal discs in front of Amara and next to them; she placed a scroll and then a large flagon full of red liquid. Amara looked at the discs; they were metallic and were silver coloured but somehow she knew that the metal was not of the earth. All of the rings were made up of intricate patterns on the edges but three sets held distinct patterns on the inside. Three held the shape of the moon, three held the shape of the sun and three held the shape of the stars.

‘The moon represents the power of magic,’ Callandra began. ‘The sun represents strength and fire, while the stars represent knowledge. Now I tell you: choose nine to go forward through time: three seers, three sorcerers and three warriors. Their souls will continue, they will wear my symbols upon their backs which you will adorn them with now and when the time comes and if magic is lost, along with the ways of the warriors and seers, I will grant them their power – call me forth for the ritual and I will bestow them, not only their power and knowledge of old but power and knowledge beyond human strength.’

‘Thank you goddess,’ Amara said.

‘That will level the field upon which you live, fight and die,’ Callandra said.

‘She has a funny definition of level,’ Callan Knight said acidly to John.

‘Indeed,’ agreed John, raising his eyebrows.

‘Be warned,’ Callandra said. ‘Those chosen will never pass the age of thirty-five, lest they be too old to face the dark army.’

‘Yes goddess.’

‘I am not done with my warning yet – hear me well. No human is invincible and neither is any human soul and given the gravity of the situation, I make these rules, for there will be much power within these nine. If any of the nine turn evil in their lives, my symbol will be destroyed and their soul will not go forward through time as chosen once they die; nor shall any chosen go forward if they take their own life. If the symbol is removed from their body, they will not go on as a chosen. Choose well Empress, for the fate of the world will rest on your decisions – and ultimately – the nine who go forward.

Only if the ritual is performed will the chosen live beyond their thirty-five years from those lives on. I warn you now, that you must only perform the ritual when you know of their return, for I will only empower them once.’

‘Thank you goddess, the people are eternally grateful.’

‘May they be eternally wise,’ Callandra said and then she was gone.

Amara stood up and looked around the temple and smiled and the eleven sorcerers around her smiled too. Then laughter and cheer broke out and soon, the people around the city were laughing, clapping and cheering and they were jubilant that hope had returned once again.

Amara picked up the nine discs, the scrolls and the flagons and wrapped them in a white silk bag that had been given to her by one of the teachers from Lansten. She was surprised at how heavy the discs were, considering that each one was barely bigger than the palm of her hand. She looked at them curiously for a while and then put them away.

Amara, the sorcerers, Michael, Garrick and their friends made their way back to the palace and from there they had a council meeting. They deliberated who the nine chosen would be and after six hours, they were decided and agreed.

Days later Garrick sent riders out to the eight nations and invited them to the celebrations that would be held in Amalah a month from now. The riders rode out and delivered their messages to the eight nations and rode back again.

Those in the palace began to make preparations for the months ahead and when the final week drew in, people from all over the nations filed into Amalah; once again, there was the same good will and spirit that there had been before Rakan had cast them into despair. Once again the delicious aromas filled the city and the people talked and laughed and the city buzzed with life. Now everyone was happy to be in Amalah City because they were there by choice and not because they were scared and running for their lives, or they were displaced.

Amara, Michael, Garrick, Thaddeus, Callan, Dale, John and the council, and all of those who had been instrumental in bringing Rakan’s army down, were in the balcony room, along with the other leaders of the nations and they were enjoying the atmosphere and each others company. When the noise outside grew louder and louder, Amara stood up and Garrick and Michael stood up with her. Amara spoke to those in the room and then she went onto the balcony and the people cheered when they saw her. Garrick, Michael and everyone else in the balcony room, followed her onto the balcony and when they were all there, Amara silenced the crowds and spoke: