A Life Beyond by Mark Church (e book reader txt) 📖

bet, now you know if I had stayed then how long before you done the same to me?'

'Lydia, do you really believe I would have harmed you in any way?, I'm quite upset that you would of even thought that about me..but with every passing day you didn't return made me more hateful and wanting to exact revenge on Casborn and his family as I feared you had turned' Aret Del sighed heavily as he turned away from Lydia,

'But I still have an inkling you are involved somewhere, a feeling buried so deep keeps nagging away at me with every passing second in your presence….I'm sorry Lydia'

'Sorry for what?..' she replied slightly confused now

'Sorry for it having to come to this, no mortal can unlock whatever secrets you are hiding....so let's try another way..' Aret Del laughed as he knew something wasn't right, Lydia was worried about what he was saying,

'Wh..What are you talking about?, please let me down, you know I'm telling the truth' as Aret Del started to walk out of the room Skaff had been waiting patiently outside,

'Skaff..' smiled Aret Del '...go do your thing, extract whatever information you can from her, spare her no pain!!'

'Yes master' Skaff replied as he floated into the room, Lydia had seen what was going on and began shouting,

'PLEASE!!, please not this….Aret Del let me down, I beg you..aaahhhhh' as he made his way down the corridor he could hear the screams of Lydia echoing through the darkness, he smiled to himself as he walked out past Chikra who had surfaced and was waiting to greet his master,

'It's ok my pet...soon we will get what we want, then this land will be mine, once I get my hands on the Book of the Silent then I shall make them all fall!!' clenching his fist as knew that a sacrifice would have to be made to bring it all to an end, 'but for now we must keep searching, I can feel them...they are calling to me'. With that he patted Chikra on the head and smiled.

Aret Del walked up the spiral staircase deep in thought, plotting his next battle which would bring him one step closer to the Book of the Silent and total dominance over Vaymia, but he knew that one boy stood in his way, a boy who had no idea of the power he possessed, a boy who, if he didn't stop, would lead the army Aret Del feared most and then there would be no stopping him from keeping peace throughout the land.

As he emerged at the top of the staircase he was met by his most faithful of servants, General Grogg, a warrior so feared throughout the planet that Aret Del never needed to show his face in battle unless it was required,

'Sir…' General Grogg said as he lifted his arm across his chest and bowed his head slightly '..The army has been readied and are awaiting your orders'

'Excellent Grogg…' said Aret Del 'This time something feels different, I feel a greater pull towards the land, it's like it wants me to find the Book of the Silent...but why?,'

'Sir if I may…' said General Grogg as he moved alongside Aret Del,

'Go ahead Grogg, my most loyal of servants, you know I value your opinion' he replied,

'Well, in the past few years I have felt a change in the makeup of the land, a feeling I have never felt before...a feeling so strong that it felt like we were being pulled towards the source...with every battle I felt as invincible as I had ever done, I could see even more fear in the people than I had ever seen before. It was like they knew something big was happening and it scared them...every battle seemed to get easier, I can't figure out why but it seems the presence of the boy has somehow energised the land but taken its energy away from the people and directed it towards the boy...this battle must be carefully thought out sir. We cannot afford to let him defeat us'

'Hmm, that does make sense Grogg' replied Aret Del 'Skaff was right when he said we need to not rush into this, I see the bigger picture now. It all makes sense!!, we must use the friend to gain the information, as much as we can take from him, then when the time is right we strike!!!, take them all out and the Bells will fall'.

'Yes sir..' saluted General Grogg 'Address the Army and make this land ours'.

As General Grogg and Aret Del made their way through the castle towards the waiting loyal army that was assembled in the castle yard their laughter could be heard echoing along the corridors, the plan they had so carefully thought about was finally looking like it would work, everything that had been foretold by the ancestors was falling into place slowly but how it all ends was never written, but Aret Del was sure he knew that he would finish what had been started and his triumph would be felt throughout the land, he just needed to remove the final obstacle stopping his rise to ultimate power.

As Aret Deal and General Grogg pushed open the heavy steel doors that led out onto a balcony overlooking the castle grounds they were greeted by the sight of Graxx Army, stretching back as far as the eye could see, row upon row of the most evil collection of soldiers ever seen, anger and hate filling the air like a poisonous gas,

'LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR!!!…' the chorus of noise greeting him like a wall of sound as it made its way along the soldiers and creeping up the wall like ivy, Aret Del smiled as he stood at the edge of the balcony, arms stretched out in front of him, his head bowed slightly as he took in the constant chanting from his army of warriors, then as he lowered his left arm the chanting stopped. Aret Del lifted his head up slightly as all eyes were trained on him,

'My loyal Graxxians….' Aret Del said '..for so long now we have been fighting a war so big and so long that it seemed never ending...A war so vicious and so barbaric that we have lost a lot of our ‘family along the way. But I have never questioned anyone about their loyalty to me, you have all fought valiantly at my side without ever asking for anything...but I can tell you that the past few battles have seen a significant change in our quest...you should have all felt the difference across this land, but now it seems Casborn isn't the same man as he was before...but a mere mortal now thanks to the appearance of his...children'.

A low murmur buzzed through the troops as they had a feeling that something wasn't right now and with this latest news it seems the rumours were true, Casborns children had returned to carry on the name.

'But I have a plan which has been in place for some time now which has slowly turned the tide in our favour, a plan so effective that even his son won't be able to break free from our clutches, and yes we will find the boy and his sister, we will show Casborn we are the force he is so afraid of, we will destroy the last of the Bells and the Book of the Silent will be mine, we shall bring this planet to its knees, We shall be victorious and I shall have it all!!' Aret Del lifted his hands towards the darkened skies which were filled with thunder and lightning as if they themselves applauded his speech,

'ARET DEL, ARET DEL, ARET DEL…' the Graxx army chanted as one for their leader as they had bought into his plan of destruction,

'Now let us go…' Aret Del shouted '..We have many places to go, many villages and towns to take over, this is the beginning of the new world'. The huge gates creaked and groaned open as the Graxx Army made their way out of Castle Rondor, footsteps stomping across the muddy land as they made their way across the bridge and down the hill that led to the castle, their journey would last longer than normal as Aret Del knew he needed more soldiers to fill his depleting army and the only way to do that was to bring down every town and village along the way in search of people who must fight for him or face a life of pain and torture, this thought drove him on in his quest to finish Lord Casborn off once and for all and for his children to never be able to take the throne of Erwin from him.

'I must succeed Grogg...for too long I have waited to get my revenge on that family' said Aret Del as he banged his fist down on the stone railing,

'I will do everything in my power to make that happen' replied Grogg

'I know you will my most feared warrior' Aret Del smiled as he turned to face General Grogg 'now you have my total trust and respect, go do what you do best, lead that army and bring me new soldiers, we must be prepared for when the day comes!'

'Yes sir, we shall have you a new batch soon, that is my word' replied Grogg as he placed his clenched fist across his chest and bowed his head slightly, the off he strode out of the gates which then creaked and groaned shut behind him. Aret Del then turned round and walked back into the safety of the castle as the heavy rain beat down outside still.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Seventeen

Learning Curve

 

'Did you see where Harvey went to?, he's just disappeared again!!' said Daniel as he stepped outside their bedroom looking up and down the corridors for any sign of him, Lillie sighed heavily as she threw back the covers on her bed,

'I don't know and I don't really care Daniel' Lillie replied with a short tone 'if he's stupid enough to go running off on his own then that's his problem, his odd behaviour is really grating on me at the minute'

'Yes I do get it sis but he's still my friend and I do feel slightly guilty about you both being here, seeing as it was my fault and all' Daniel said as he came back in to the room and shut the door behind him,

'Look Daniel, there's a reason why we are all here and it's not your fault ok, as I look at it we were meant to find our family so no matter what you think I believe this was meant to be' Lillie doing her best to reassure her brother as he looked slightly sad,

'But what about mum?, It's weird as I haven't really thought about her much since we got here, I mean...it's like we are being made to forget about everything we had before here, I hope she's ok, I really do' Daniel looked out of the window in their room as the suns set over the land, a rainbow of colours filling the sky as they sank lower behind the castle walls,

'Daniel..' Lillie knew that she had to step up and look after him 'I totally get what you are saying but as I see it mum, if she is our mum I mean, was following orders to get us to safety, I'm sure she feels like you do now but I have this feeling deep inside of me that tells me she is fine ok, so let's try and figure out what we have to do while we are here',

'Ok sis I trust you, but I do need to find Harvey also, I'm worried about him, he hasn't been seen for ages now, I'll never forgive myself if he's hurt or something' said Daniel as he got dressed into his clothes, he grabbed his lantern from his bag and slowly opened the door

As he