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

the children whooped and clapped in appreciation of the King's speech so far,

'So as the year progresses on children I will be keeping a close eye on events throughout the term, just so I can see it's all going the way it needs to so I would appreciate maximum effort and a positive attitude towards each and every man, woman and child who visits the Castle as well as the people who are staying here', more clapping followed towards the King as Lord Casborn stepped forwards and whispered something in his ear before taking a step back to his original position,

'Ahhhh yes, one other order of business is as you well know by now that the Tri-Yearly-Night-Games is also being held here and it is with great pleasure that I once again welcome the competitors to our Castle once again…'

'WOOOOO' a voice screeched from the side of the Arena as every head turned to see who it was that had shouted out, hundreds of pairs of eyes trained themselves on the culprit and it happened to be Tahmidius standing there with his arm aloft looking over confident as he always did, the King turned round with a slight smirk when he noticed Joda’s face had turned an angry shade of red as he threw his son a look that would take down an marauding Howler in full flow,

'Wh..Why are you all looking at me??' asked Tahmidius nervously,

'Son… just practice the art of silence for once!!!' Joda replied angrily,

'I'm so sorry for my son's….outburst my King…' he said a she turned back to the front looking rather embarrassed,

'It is ok Joda' smiled the King 'I'm sure he will be put in his place soon enough!!',

'So as we reach the near end of this almost perfect day I would personally like to show my appreciation……..' the King continued to speak on as all of a sudden a few children started to slip away from their class and move around the platform slowly, taking care not to be seen by anyone as they slowly moved into a sort of circular position around the base,

Then Cahlid stepped forwards out of the shadow of the crowd with his hood up totally covering his face, he moved people out of the way to get right into the Kings eye line and as the King was delivering his end of day speech Cahlid and his group all clapped their hands in unison which caused the King to suddenly stop in the middle of his speech and stepped forwards to the edge of his platform,

'What is the meaning of this???' the King shouted down to the person who had interrupted him not knowing who it actually was that was standing right in front of him 'guards….deal with this please!!!' the King ordered as the guards from the ‘Outer Circle’ stepped forwards but as they got near Cahlid and his group all raised their hands up with Cahlid shouting out in a voice so unworldly that it scared some of the children,

'You shall not interfere..you shall not harm us...we are the few. We are the dark' he said as a pulse reverberated from within the group causing the guards to suddenly stop dead in their tracks, frozen and unable to free themselves from their invisible prison.

'Whoever you are I demand you release my guards and be ready to explain yourself fully, Do you know who you are dealing with?' angrily the King slammed his cane down on the platform floor causing it to boom out across the Arena floor as gasps could be heard coming from the crowds of children gathered all around the group. An eerie silence fell around the Arena as no one dared mutter a word, Cahlid and his group stood there absolutely motionless, hoods still raised.

Once again the voice filled the Arena, from every corner it could be heard making its way towards the gathered crowd

‘We are the darkness you fear….the pain that grips you very soul...we are the storm that keeps you hidden…’,

Lord Casborn stepped forward, staying close to his father and whispered something in his ear which was met with a nod, whereas Garin had disappeared from the platform and was making his way quietly down towards the Arena floor as the voice grew louder around them, the King was getting visibly angry now as he took in a deep breath and exhaled then he had decided that enough was enough,

'ENOUGH….' the King shouted as the chanting suddenly stopped but a huge gust of wind filled the Arena, blowing dust all around them as they stood still. The children were covering their faces, unable to see anything and not sure what to do so they stood there huddled together tightly packed and frightened now, 'you are to stop this immediately….do not think for one minute I don't know who you are and what you think you will achieve but I assure you this will not work...SKAFF!!!!!',

The King had been informed that Skaff was behind this as it bore many traits of his such as the mind control and the eerie voice.

Cahlid stepped forward a few steps and, hood still raised and the voice came from his mouth but wasn't his own,

'Ahhhh….yesssss, why….hello there...King!!!!' said Skaffs voice with a cackle 'How nice to talk to you againnn…' he continued

'And what is it that you are trying to achieve here...do you think intimidating us will get you what you need??' asked the King, the next voice came from another member of the group but still with Skaffs voice,

'Achieve???, we haven't set out to achieve anythingggg…' the voice protested 'we. As a collective are merely trying to reclaim what is so rightfully ours, and in order to do this we shall do it by whatever means are necessaryyyy' Skaffs voice echoed around the Arena like a leaf caught in the wind as the King held tightly onto Lord Casborn,

'And pray tell what is it that you are claiming is rightfully yours??' laughed the King as the voice rang out again from another direction,

'Ahhhh now that would be tellingggg..' the voice said with an air of laughter about it '...but you see in order for me to find out what I needed to know I had to enlist the help of a number of weak minded individuals to help me achieve this!!' laugh the voice of Skaff as the group lowered their hoods to reveal that Cahlid and his friend's had been brainwashed and were completely under Skaffs control.

A huge gasp filled the Arena as each hood fell, followed by a loud muttering from each group as they recognised the children involved,

The King felt a cold shiver run through him as he stood there looking into the vacant eyes of a group of children who were from the Castle, their eyes glowing purple as they stood completely still,

'What have you done??' the King said with his voice quivering in fear 'I demand you release these children at once Skaff or so help me…',

'I have no intention of releasing my...playthingssss' laughed Skaff as his voice grew louder 'I have many plans for these childrennnn….they are a means to an endddd',

Lord Casborn stepped forward to where his father was and felt he needed to address Skaff,

'Skaff….' he started 'I can tell you now that whatever it is that you are after will not be handed over to you...you forget who I am...who we are and what we stand for...there is no way you will ever get anything from us and I will protect everyone with my last breath to make sure that doesn't happen!!' Lord Casborn said angrily with real intent in his voice as Cahlid and his group still stood in a circle around the platform without a flicker of life felt in their souls,

'Your last breath?...Casbornnnnn…' Skaffs voice said with an interesting tone 'Ahhhh that is an interesting thought and I'm sure the Master will be the first to watch that happen...when it does happen I meannnn', the King had heard Skaff talk about ‘his Master’ which caused him to speak out again,

'Ahhh it all becomes clear now, I should’ve known that you never work alone Skaff…' the King said 'I mean you are too weak a character to do this alone!!', this caused Skaff to laugh,

'Your attempts to anger me are pointless. Kingggg' said the voice of Skaff which was once again coming from one of the group of boys under his control 'you see I have been around for centuriessss...watching...waiting….learningggg, the Armies that protect ‘The Bells’ have grown few, I have been around to witness their demise...and you stand there warning me to leave but now is our time...our fight...and you shall all fall. This world as you know it will be no more!!!!' warned Skaff as the children who were under his spell all looked up at the King with the purple glowing eyes that had drained their souls,

'This is your final warning Skaff, if you do not release the children then I shall be forced to take serious action, we shall hunt you...and we shall find you' Lord Casborn said as he stepped forward towards the platform edge 'I will not rest until you have been found and I will personally deal with you….so if you do not stop then so it begins!!',

'Oh I've had enough of these threats...Casborn, you have been a real pain for the Master. And you will fall!!!!' Skaff threatened them all now as the plan that Aret Del and Skaff had planned was falling into place nicely so far, and with that Cahlid raised his arm and muttered something under his breath. A bolt of light shot out from his finger and slammed into the chest of the King causing him to fall backwards onto the stage floor,

'FATHER!!!!!' shouted Lord Casborn as he leapt over to him and scooped his head up, his face looking scared at what he might see but the King was conscious and not seemingly too badly hurt

'I...I'm ok son, whatever that was only meant to scare me' replied the King, but little did he know Skaff had hidden something in that spell that he wouldn't be able to detect, something that would have grave consequences for the King.

An evil cackle now filled the Arena as Skaffs voice flew around it like a wild bird caught on the wind before an eerie silence fell across the ground,

'Oh King!!' laughed Skaffs voice 'that was just a taster of the power we now possess, the Master shall be pleased with the progress and even more pleased when the children carry out the final act that will bring this Castle crashing down before your very eyes and we will be free to finish what was started so long ago, this place will be no more….',

Lord Casborn jumped up to his feet and readied himself for whatever was coming next with a look in his eyes that meant business until he caught sight of Daniel and Lillie looking utterly scared which caused his heart to drop,

'Chi..children…' he said to himself with a trembling voice until he noticed Garin was edging ever closer to them 'now you shall feel MY pow….' before he could finish his sentence Cahlid and the group of boys raised their hands above their chest and shouted out in one voice

'IGNITUNO….IGNITUNO'.

A flash of light filled the Arena blinding everyone who looked at it, then followed the sound of wood breaking as the stands around them creaked and cracked as the whole place began to fall from within, stone began splitting and exploding as the light grew stronger, the walls which covered the edge of the Arena exploded and showered the whole place with stones, the children were screaming as they held onto each other totally gripped with a fear of their lives, the whole Arena became a whirlwind of dust, stone and wood as every inch of it was ripped from its holdings and flung around the floor with Cahlid and his group still chanting