Chapter Twenty-Seven
He closed his eyes and let his mortal body float up into the evening air. It was bone-chilling as the breeze came in from the Western Coast. Orion didn’t know which direction he should head; in his present location, England was probably an equal distance. In fact, he didn’t make the decision in the end – the current did it for him. He was being taken by the west-east current across the sleeping nation.
When he crossed the ocean, he loved the cold wind ripping through his clothes and he wondered just what he looked like from someone below, perhaps on one of those luxurious cruise ships that never sleep. A winged demon silhouetted against the moon. How little the world knew of real demons. Wasn’t it just a powerful demon who had entrusted Orion with these magnificent powers?
He was over land once again in a matter of an hour and he had pinpointed his old homestead almost as easily as he had walked home. Sadly, it wasn’t home that he was after, but of something far below the surface of the earth.
He stood before the ruins with his arms down at his sides and just looked at his old home. A million emotions came and went through his mind. He could have controlled this keep had he not become possessed by greed of eternal power. He would not be alive today, yes, but he would have at least been known as a true King. King Orion. Kingdom of hell.
Orion lowered his head and found that he had clasped his hands together. He said a silent prayer; but who and for whom he was praying, he wasn’t fully aware of.
He might have said a prayer to his father or he may have been paying homage to all he had murdered.
Orion stood there for a while with his head down, arms at his side. At last he brought his hands up in front of his body and outstretched his fingers and created an earthquake beneath his boots. He willed the ground to split and he was quite satisfied when he saw the earth separate inches in front of him.
He wasted no time and he jumped over the edge into the darkened canyon created with just his mind. It felt as if a short eternity lasted before he found the ground he wanted. He stood erect and painful memories came back to haunt him as he looked around the chamber.
He stood just outside the Time Chamber, where he and Allen had their brief conversation. Even as he pondered the scene in his own twisted head, it was confusing. It was Orion, himself, that had made the decision to send himself into this pathetic future; he knew the true Allen Corgan would never be able to handle such a delicate mission.
Orion closed his eyes and forced his mind to close on itself and when he opened them again he was looking at the entrance to the Time Chamber. He peered inside, knowing that he could alter the Time Squares, but he knew that the Oracles would not be so easy to manipulate.
The Oracles controlled the Time Channel and, in the end, decided who traveled inside the Time Channel and who did not.
Maybe they could supply him with the information he needed pertaining to his Dreamkillers, but he doubted very much that they would help him. He abused the System too many times, he knew.
He was almost afraid to step foot inside this chamber. There was no way that the Oracles could hurt him – they were spirit material and therefore could not lay one finger upon his flesh. But they did have ways to make your life hell if they chose to do it. He had heard stories when he was a young boy that the Oracles were infuriated with some sailor that they actually caused a hurricane to destroy his ship, sinking it like it was some toy boat in a pond.
With one last breath, he stepped into the chamber and was relieved that nothing had happened right away. He moved to the center of the room and brought his arms up as if embracing the ceiling and down came the squares of Time. Every being on the earth has a square, or squares, which show various frames of their development.
“I wish to see my new children,” he called out in anticipation that the Oracles would show him what he sought.
“No, Father,”
Orion quickly turned round and was aghast when he saw Beth standing by the entrance. She had formed an almost human face now. There were the subtle similarities of still being a Dreamkiller; her eyes were human-shaped, but they were red. Instead of the typical hue of a Dreamkiller, Beth’s skin was deathly-white. The expression on her face was too human to be monstrous. She stared at her father with a look of contempt in the lines of her face.
Stolen novel; please report.
Next to her stood Eric. He looked more demonic than his sister; his flesh was greener than hers and his eyes were more pointed and black. But still, he seemed to be watching his father for the slightest change in appearance. He was listening to Beth and watching how Orion was taking it.
“You have come looking for us; here we are. But I believe it is us who were waiting for you,” she began and Orion gave her a cautionary look. “We have come here almost immediately after you left us.”
Orion shook his head. “This is most impossible. There is no way in hell you could have known of this place.” He looked up at the squares of time. “Explain this to me. Now!”
“Time is eternal, Father.” Eric stepped forward now, his brownish mane falling into his face. “Everything and everyone eventually ends up here.”
Orion began pacing as he weighed the words. “I suppose,” he replied and then stopped and turned to them again. “It still doesn’t explain to me how you discovered the Time Chamber.”
It was Beth who had stepped forward and she walked over to her father with a deep seduction emanating from her eyes as she swung her hips from side to side. “Oh, Father,” she whispered as she approached him.
Orion began feeling nervous – a feeling he wasn’t very appreciative to have. He had felt nervous plenty of times when he was a child. He was a father now; nervous feelings he could not allow.
There was also a different feeling emerging from his being. He subconsciously reached down and put his hand in his pocket and tugged to release the uneasiness of a cramped hardening member. This, too, he would not allow. There are more pressing things at the moment than having a female.
She came up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed her body up against his, making sure to grind her crotch against his. “The Oracles came to us,” she said and he shook his head disbelievingly.
“They never leave this place – that’s absurd.”
Beth smiled and nodded. “Oh, yes, they did. And believe me, Father, they have told us very bad things about you. You will become the devil’s prince. Your schemes are too many,” she explained and he looked down into her face, trying to ignore his bulging crotch.
“Too many schemes?”
Beth nodded. “You need to limit your priorities; otherwise it will become your undoing. The final Dream Crusader will be born very soon and she could easily destroy you because you have too many agendas.”
With that, Orion pushed her away and looked up. “Do you really think I believe in that ancient prophecy? There is no one who can destroy me! And once I have the Forbidden Realms, the world will be mine!”
Orion suddenly turned and noticed that Eric had stepped forward with a look of caution. “Father, don’t make us your enemy. We don’t want to fight you. Step down, leave Eden untainted,” Eric said as Beth watched him.
Orion grinned and shook his head. “Don’t you think I know what you're doing? You don’t want to be replaced by the new breed of Dreamkiller. Understandable. But, please, don’t ever suggest fighting me.”
“No,” Beth cut in. “This has nothing to do with that. This has to do with you biting off more than you can chew, so to speak. You can’t handle the responsibility of two armies, the Dream Crusader, and having infinite knowledge – it will destroy you,” she explained and Orion almost laughed.
“I don’t think so. I am very close to the Forbidden Realms and when I get what I want, I shall enjoy killing this Dream Crusader with my own hands. That should prove to you and the damned Oracles that you shouldn’t believe in everything you hear about prophecies.”
At that, Orion turned when he heard a loud sound. He looked at the far wall and saw that a large crack had formed and then it split open and out poured a blinding light. “King Lars,” announced several voices in unison.
Orion watched as four celestial entities in white walked into the Time Chamber. He shook his head. “I am Orion; you of all things should know this.”
The Oracles had no faces, only heads on their formless bodies. Their hands looked as if they had been sewn together. “You were to be named after your mother’s husband, Lars. You were to rule the Grendels as she had,” replied all voices as one.
Orion shrugged his shoulders. “And you’re telling me this because - ?”
“You can still rule that kingdom. You do not need the Forbidden Realms.”
Everything stopped in his mind. Orion stared at the quartet of Oracles. “You’re telling me I could have a second chance at life?”
“There was a time when Barbus Whitaker tried to take you away from Darvon Keep. You could be sent back to that precise moment with the knowledge you have now and leave with him.”
“Will I eventually forget everything about this life?”
“As you mature in that time, yes.”
Orion lowered his head in contemplation. “To live a normal life,” he whispered. He rubbed his mouth with his fingers and then looked up at the Oracles. “A very tempting offer. But, once I have the Forbidden Realms, I will have the power to destroy you.” He looked back at Beth and Eric and raised his arm and sent them flying across the room and hitting the other side. “You see,” he turned back to the Oracles. “Not even you have the power to persuade me,” he grunted and with his mind he sealed the Oracle's newly-formed doorway, trapping them with him.