What Once Was One (Book 2) (20 page)

CHAPTER 11

I vomited when I came to. I wiped my mouth and stood up. How long was I out? Were the others in trouble? Did Premier get his power back? I expected to see Renak and my own mocking face, but I was alone again.

I gasped when I realized where I was. I was near my home town of Sedah. The pond outside it rippled with a cool breeze. A small forest encircled me, blocking the day’s sun. The ground beneath my feet felt soft and full of life, unlike what I had endured in the Wastelands. I danced my fingers and tickled them on a fern. It
felt
real. But was it?

I inhaled the light air, admiring
 
the way the sunlight reflected off the water. I picked up a pebble and tried to skip it across the pond. It sank with one bounce and I laughed. I always felt at peace here, which is why I’d named it “Peaceful Pond.” This was my one place of contentment growing up.

I shook my head, trying to remember how I had gotten here. I wasn’t near my hometown of Sedah. I was...in the Wastelands of Renak and I had...something to do.

“Hellsfire,” a gentle voice said.

I spun around in confusion, but I couldn’t see the source of the voice anywhere. It sounded familiar.

“Hellsfire,” she said again, and this time I recognized it.

“Mother?”

“Hello, son,” she said from behind me.

My mother strolled out of the forest, appearing before my eyes as the young beauty men once fought over. Her long, lush auburn hair wrapped around her body. There were no wrinkles around her tender smile or on her forehead. Her green eyes were renewed with life.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

I was cautious as the younger version of my mother glided towards me. It had been years since I last saw her. I missed her so much. She had sent me away to learn to control my powers, but she could never have foreseen what would happen to me. I had so much to tell her.

I couldn’t get rid of the haziness in my head. There was so much I didn’t understand about the nexus or its magic. If it was possible to go inside one, what else could it do? The rational part of me wanted to deny this, but another part of me yearned so much for it to be real.

My mother came closer and my body caved in to her open arms. She hugged me, and it was as warm and gentle as I’d always remembered it. It
was
her. She was my mother. She looked different because of the magic of this place. Because...I couldn’t even remember the name of wherever I was. It didn’t matter.

It had been so long since I’d last seen or heard from my mother that I laid my head on her chest and whimpered.

“I’m so glad to see you,” I said. “It’s been so long and I’ve been through so much. The things I’ve seen and done…” I sniffled in her arms, remembering the battles, the death, the destruction. The fear I felt, and the worry of what would happen if I didn’t succeed. There was so much I wanted to get off my chest that words failed me. All I managed was, “It feels good to be with you again.”

“I know, Hellsfire,” she said, hugging me tightly. “It’s good to be with you too. There’s someone here I want you to meet.”

I gazed into her loving green eyes. She swiveled her head in another direction. A shadowy figure approached from behind one of the oak trees. I let go of my mother and turned to face the mysterious visitor.

“Hello, Hellsfire,” a man said.

“Who are you?”

“You know who I am.”

He unsheathed a beautiful dagger from his belt. It was the one my mother had given to me, and she had received it from her husband. I reached to my waist and my dagger was gone. My mother let me go and moved over to the man. She wrapped her right arm around him and leaned into him.

“Father?” I asked. I had never seen my father before. He died a hero in the Burning Sands before I was born.

“Yes, Hellsfire,” he said, and nodded.

“How is this possible? You’re dead.”

“Remember where you are. Anything’s possible here.”

But I couldn’t remember. I rubbed my hand against my head. My mind was blank. The harder I tried to think about it, the more my head hurt. I took a step closer to see his face, but I still couldn’t make him out. The shadows draped his face.

“Hellsfire, you’ve been given a chance,” my mother said as she snuggled up against my father.

“A chance?” I wiped my sweaty palm against my pounding head. “A chance for what?”

“A chance to be with your family,” my father said. “To get what was denied to all of us. We can be together.” He placed his firm hand on my shoulder. His dark brown eyes had the same look to them as mine. Yet no matter how close he was, I couldn’t make out his face.

“I…I…” I tried to say no, ask why or how, to formulate some kind of words, but my dry mouth wouldn’t let me. There was only one phrase that stood clear in the canvas of my mind. Something I had wanted since I was a child. “I want nothing more than to be a family.” My mind eased from the pain the moment I said that.

“Then let’s be one, son.”

My parents embraced me. The heavens surrounded me, radiating with love. The stress and tension melted away. I was finally free. There was no more responsibility, no more worrying about the future, about my destiny, about things far too big for only one man. I cried, but they were tears of joy.

“Come on, son,” my father said. “Let’s go.”

“Where are we going, Daddy?” I looked up at him. He was a giant. My small hand was palmed in his.

My father lifted me up, putting me on his shoulders. He pointed to a bright light through the trees. The tiny star was a short distance away. It reminded me of something—something I had seen before, but I couldn’t remember what. I let go of that thought, rocking back and forth on my father’s shoulders, smiling at being on top of the world.

“We’re going over there so we can be together,” he said.

“What’s over there?” I asked.

“A special place.”

“Let’s go,” my mother said as she grabbed my father’s free hand.

We walked to where we would become a family. I giggled and laughed while riding my dad’s shoulders. The grass around us stood up straighter and the flowers bloomed to their fullest. I even heard the sounds of birds off in the distance.

The bright light mesmerized me and the love and joy of my parents comforted me. I was no longer going to be alone.

I looked back down the path we’d traveled. The scenery and light had disappeared, replaced by darkness. There was something I was forgetting. No, not something, someone important and special to me, but I couldn’t remember who.

That didn’t matter now. I turned my head away from it and towards the bright light. The warmth from it was intense, but not dangerous. I stared at the light and it reminded me of a glistening gem. Not a gem, but a crystal.

“Krystal,” I whispered.

Just as we were about to enter paradise, a powerful and beautiful image of the woman I cared about more than the world ripped through my head. If I vanished with my family, I would never see Krystal again.

I yelled out in pain, putting my hands to my head. My father put me down. Memories of Krystal and all the time we had spent together flooded my mind. They clashed against the hope and joy of being with my family again. They became a relentless storm, threatening to make my head explode.

“We’ve got to do something!” my mother said, reaching for me. I tried to go to her, but my body wouldn’t obey. It kept squirming and twisting.

“Son,” my father said in a calm voice, “if we go to the light, everything will be fine. I promise.”

I glanced up at my father, wanting to speak. I couldn’t because of the pain.

The two conflicting thoughts hammered me. I wasn’t sure I could survive it until Krystal said, “Hellsfire!”

Her word exploded the fire within, burning my mind and soul. They shredded my entire being, altering my body to what it once was. I remembered who I was and what I was supposed to do.

“I’m a wizard,” I whispered. I rose and faced my parents.

“Come with us,” Mother said. “Please.” Her green eyes brimmed with tears.

“Yes,” Father said. “We can live happily ever after.”

My heart yearned to be with them. I wanted so much to be a family and have that which was denied to me. “I want to...but I can’t.” My shoulders slumped and I could no longer meet their eyes.

I had to live in the present and not be lost in something that couldn’t be, no matter how real it seemed. I was a wizard. I couldn’t disregard my responsibilities to the world. That’s not what Stradus had taught me—or my mother. I had to help my friends and I couldn’t leave Krystal behind.

I tried to meet my parents’ gaze. “I’m sorry, I can’t go with you.”

“Why not, Hellsfire?” my mother asked.

“There’s...a girl.”

“Who?”

“The Princess of Alexandria.”

“Ah,” my mother said. She paused as she considered her words. “You realize you may never be together. She’s a princess and you’re a wizard. Her people may never accept you.”

I sighed. “I know. She has a duty and is out of my league, but—” I looked into my mother’s eyes. “I still have to try.”

“That’s my son,” my father said, and smiled. I returned it. “You must care for her a great deal, Hellsfire.”

“I do.”

“Good.”

“There are also some things I still have to do.”

“Then you do them,” my father said. “You do what you have to. I’m sure we’ll be together again. One day.” He walked over to me and handed me his precious dagger. “Hold on to this. You’re going to need it like I once did.”

“What do you mean?”

He smiled at me. “Don’t worry about it now. I know you’ll make me proud, son.” He settled his hand on my shoulder and touched his forehead to mine.

My voice drowned in tears caught in my throat.

My mother leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. “Goodbye, son.”

The stinging tears dripped down my face as I watched the two go into the light. They turned and smiled at me before disappearing. Everything around me vanished and shimmered out of existence. There was no more pond, trees, flowers, or even light. I was all alone in the void. All alone to face my destiny. I collapsed to the ground, the darkness overtaking me.

----

Screams and yells rattled in my ears, jolting me awake. The landscape of my home was gone, replaced with the bleakness of the Wastelands. I staggered up and gasped at the sight of my friends.

Prastian, Behast, Ardimus, and Krystal battled against a behemoth monster as gigantic as a fifteen foot tree. Its multiple, thick arms fought with unnatural quickness, dodging and blocking their blows. Its six eyes moved independently and locked onto each person like a lizard. The reddish brute even hurled beginner elemental spells, flinging fireballs similar to mine.

What were they doing here?

“They came to save you,” my doppelganger said, appearing next to me. “Unfortunately for them, none of them are wizards, so they had to fight a creation of my own.”

I stared at my friends, trying to decide if what Renak said was true. I shook my head to clear the fog. Their movements were so fluid while they handled their weapons. The sounds of battle that resonated were so real.