Ancient Mystic's War of the Realms Saga by Lady Adellandra Dratianos (motivational novels TXT) 📖

shaking. “I’m claustrophobic.”
“Boy are you in the wrong business.” Jake quipped.
“Shut up Jake.” Derrick replied, going over to Michael. “Nothing good has ever come out of panicking. You must think straight to gain order, got that?”
“Listen to you, Mr. Philosopher.” Shane teased him. He turned back to Michael. “Find a way to get over it. There’s nothing to be scared of here, trust me.”
“Shadow, this is the Unknown.” Derrick reminded him. “You know as well as I do how freaky this place is.”
“Sure I do, Reading.” Shane said. “I also know nothing can bother you if you don’t want it to.”
“What bothers me is why Craig’s not awake, yet.” Jake said, nodding over to the fifth man.
Derrick looked over to his childhood best friend. “He’s awake, just listening.”
“That’s comforting.” Jake said.
“Jig’s up, buddy.” Derrick went over to him and tapped his arm. “We’ll help you out of this mess.”
“Wondered how long it would take you to notice I was here.” Craig said plainly, rubbing his wrists as the ropes came off.
“Wherever here is.” Michael quipped. His eyes went around the cage, surveying.
“Like I said, this is the Unknown.” Shane said. “Trouble is, not even I know where in the Unknown.”
The boys heard a female voice yelling not far from them.
“Hello! Anybody there?”
“Help us out of here!”
“We know you’re there. I can hear your voices.”
Derrick recognized the last voice as being that of his Love, Ariana. “Ariana? It’s me.”
“Derrick!” Ariana’s voice cried back. “Help us out of here.”
“We only wish we could, sister.” Shane supplied. “We’re trapped, too. Have you tried your bindings?”
“The bars are enchanted.” Derrick said. “Can you use any Magic, Love?”
“We tried. It’s just like the Crusades and the Dominion.” Ariana said. “Any attempt gives us pain, yours truly especially.”
“We?” Jake asked. “Who’s there with you?”
“Just my sisters.” Ariana replied. “What about you?”
“The Earthly Protectors.” Craig announced.
“Who could do this to us and why?” They heard Claudia’s voice peep.
“Can’t be Sabrina. She’s dust.” Derrick said. “Nowhere to be found.”
“Shenara, Albrath and Damian, you think?” Luna’s voice pondered.
“I believe so, but how?” Derrick said. “Neither has power over a Ancient Mystic.”
“Only one of them does.” Shane corrected.
“Shadow’s right.” Ariana supplied. “Damian’s an Ancient Mystic himself.”
“Why do this to us?” Claudia asked again.
“Because we have power and he wants it for himself.” Luna said.
“As do any good-for-nothing demon we run into.” Shane quipped.
“Who’s taking care of the kids while we’re here?” Mary Ellen decided to speak up.
“My guess is Aaron and Aimee.”
“Think Aimee can sense us in pain?”
“She’s the Crusader team’s Over-Seer.” Ariana remarked. “That, and bound to me by blood-ties, she has to have by now.”
“They have the Unicorn Magic, don’t they?” Shane asked.
“Sure, from me.” Ariana replied. “The blood-tie I was talking about. When I did the spell, I sealed them to me, and myself to them. The Magic is only a trace of what I’ve got, but it’s still there.”
“Recently, the twins used magic to revive Ariana and Kelly after a major battle.” Derrick told them. “I never knew just how much Aaron’s Unicorn Magic has grown after all these years.”
“What do you expect, love?” Ariana asked. “Both the twins have been bound to me half their lives. They’ve always been there when I needed them, and I have been there when they needed me. I’ll try my best to communicate with them.”
“No!” Both Luna’s and Derrick’s voices cried.
“Don’t do it, Love.” Derrick replied.
“It’ll hurt you even more than the Dominion.” Luna said.
“Relax, worry warts.” Ariana said. “I wasn’t going to use Magic. I was going to use the Life-Line. Aaron does have one, you know.”
“What’s that?” Jake asked.
“The Life-line is a wrist-communicator.” Shane explained. “It serves three purposes. Verbal and audio communication using brain-wave patterns, telling the time by verbal command, and searching for a lost agent with coordinates, also using brain-wave patterns.”
Jake looked at Shane’s as he explained. “So this thing is what links all agents together.”
“Not all of us, just those with it on.” Shane replied. “Speaking of which, have you tried it, yet?”
“Can’t get an answer, Shadow.” Ariana’s voice cried out. “I’ll keep repeating the sequence until I have a reply.”
“Good girl.” Derrick responded.
“If they’re going to rescue us, they’d better hurry up about it.” Craig said.
“Why’s that?”
“Mike’s not looking too good.” Jake answered.
The girls didn’t see what the boys did. Michael had found a corner to curl up in. He was shaking, rocking back and forth, muttering to himself.

III

Aaron found a somber scene when he walked in the door. The air felt like a wash of death. His heart pounded, thinking of the children, especially his own.
“Kelina!” He cried, racing around the house trying to find her.
Kelly raced out of her room and into his arms. “Daddy! Oh, Daddy, they’re gone! I know it.”
“It’s okay, I’m here.” Aaron replied. “Aimee’s checking on your cousins. In the meantime, how are the twins and Melody holding up?”
“They formed a Circle together.” Kelly replied. “I had a vision of Momma and them getting kidnapped. They didn’t need me to tell them what to do, they did it on their own.”
Aaron shook his head. “What about you, kid?”
“I’d just snapped out of another vision when you walked in the door.”
“What happened?” Aaron asked. “What did you see?”
“You don’t want to know.” Kelly supplied, drying her tears.
“Later then. Time to rescue them.”
“I agree, Uncle Aaron.” He heard Angel’s voice say. Aimee was beside her, holding a sleeping Logan Morehouse. Caleb and Meredith gathered on either side of Aimee.
“How?” Aimee supplied. “Neither of us has enough Magic to make it there, let alone the energy it would take to rescue them and bring them home. What if we run into their captors? Will we have the energy to fight them?”
“I’m going with you.” Kelly said.
“Me, too.” Meredith replied.
“Us, too.” Andrew and Mark came from behind Kelly with Melody.
“Not Melody.” Aimee supplied.
“Why not?” Kelly asked. “She has enough power to help.”
“No, Kelina Erin.” Aaron said. “She’s too young.”
You were young when you met Mommy. Melody’s voice rang in his head. How is it different?
“Sorry, little one, but I’m not taking any chances.” Aaron replied, hugging and kissing the girl.
Melody pouted.
“We’ve got Meredith, Caleb, Kelly and the twins with us.” Aimee said. She turned to Bradley.
“I’ll watch Melody and Logan while you rescue them.” Bradley grinned. “Angel will help me, won’t you?”
Angel nodded. “I’ll be really good, Mom. I promise.”
Aimee handed Logan to Bradley before turning to her brother. “What are we waiting for? To the Altar Room.”
With the kids at their heels, the Schmidt twins were going to rescue the Ancient Mystics and their Earthly Protectors.
EPILOGUE:
The Ultimate Circle of Magic

Aaron, Aimee and the children found the underground caverns of the Unknown with ease. It was dark, so Aaron used his magic to conjure a ball of light.
“Where do you believe they are, big brother?” Aimee whispered, holding onto Meredith and Caleb’s hands. Kelly was in front of her with Andrew’s hand in hers as he held Mark’s. Aaron took the lead, using the strength of the necklace to see.
“My guess is the same place Damian took her last time.”
“Wouldn’t that be too easy, Daddy?” Kelly asked. “Why would he do that again? I don’t get it.”
“Neither do we.” Aimee answered for her brother. “Well, Aaron? Can you sense them?”
He shook his head, holding it as a headache came on. “Sorry, sis, but no.”
“What about you, Kelly?”
“It hurts to use empathy, Aunt Aimee.” Kelly replied. “I can feel them though. They’re close by.”
The watches around Kelly, Aaron and even Aimee’s wrists beeped, signaling someone was trying to get through.
Kelly checked her Life-line. “It’s from Momma!”
“Thank the Ancient Mystics!” Aimee whispered. “Follow the signal. According to Shannon, it will get stronger the closer you get to the sender.”
“Send a message back, kid.” Aaron told Kelly. “Let her know we’re on our way.”
“She knows, Daddy.” Kelly replied. She read the message on the LCD screen of the Life-line. “Uh, how much Unicorn Magic do you have?”
“Why?”
“You’ll need it to rescue them.” Kelly supplied. “Plenty of it.”
“She says they’re trapped in cages bound by Dragon Magic.” Aimee supplied.
“Who’s there with her?”
“Claudia, Mary Ellen, Anna and Luna.” Aimee said, closing her eyes to sense and see them. Oddly enough, it didn’t hurt to do so. She saw through Ariana’s eyes. “In another cage are Derrick, Craig, Jake, Michael and Shane.” Aimee paused. “We’d better find them, quick.”
“Why?” Andrew spoke up. “What’s wrong, Aunt Aimee?”
“Michael is claustrophobic. He’s not doing so good.”
“Let’s get them out of there so we can heal him, shall we?” Aaron announced. “Onward, troops.”

Before too long, their captors returned.
Shenara and Albrath grinned at one another as they watched over the Ancient Mystics and their Earthly Protectors.
“It would seem we have the advantage, Young Guardian.” Shenara crooned. “How quaint.”
“Reminiscent of anytime in particular?” Albrath screeched.
Ariana wasn’t going to back down. Her sisters and their Protectors counted on her. “Now that I think about it, yes. I seem to recall when I escaped from Damian’s cage during the Crusades.”
“There’s no hope for you, now. Not even your Protector can escape to rescue you.”
“You’re forgetting one thing, Albrath.” Luna stood beside her. “Good always triumphs over evil.”
Albrath laughed. “That will be the day!”
“In case you have not already figured it out, these bars are enchanted with powerful Dragon Magic. Not even Goddess of Fire herself could get out of it.”
“I wouldn’t count on that if I were you.” Ariana said sarcastically.
“SILENCE! ALL OF YOU!” Damian’s voice boomed over them. Once he got all their attentions. “I only have one wish you need grant me before you can be released.”
Damian headed to Ariana and stood face to face with her.
“You’ll get nothing from me, Damian, and you know it.” Ariana supplied.
“All I require is your power.”
“You have your own. Use it.” Claudia spat.
“No, dear Young Claudia. I want Young Guardian’s.” Damian announced. “You see, neither of you has as much power as she does.”
“Glad you realize that.” Ariana responded. “I’m still not giving it to you.”
“You will do as he asks, or die!” Albrath butted in.
“Albrath, back!” Damian cried. “Let me handle her. After all, she is my cousin.”
“So is Katherine.” Ariana supplied. “You know if you let anything happen to me, she’ll sense it and come to our rescue. Not only that, but Lord Guardian himself will have your hide. You’ll be toast by the end of the night.”
Shenara laughed. “Not if I can help it.”
“As if a Dominionite like you could ever do anything to hurt Lord Guardian.” Luna said.
“I am now a Dark Lady of the Unknown. I demand respect, Ancient Mystic.” Shenara commanded.
“Demand all you like, you won’t get it.” Anna said.
“Respect is something you earn, Lady Wizard.” Ariana announced.
Shenara was confused by the statement.
“This has gone far enough.” Damian said. He pulled out a dagger and pointed it at Ariana’s chest. She froze, not wanting to be stung by the blade. “Now then. Give me your power or die a Dominionite.”
“Leave her alone, Damian!” Came a voice from the shadows.
Ariana and her sisters looked up to see Aimee, with Meredith and Kelly beside her.
“What will you do, Ancient Mystic wannabe? Zap me with what