Chapter 22

It was Mykella’s turn to laugh, although it was a nervous one as she looked at Orion. “Me? Why would I be God’s weakness?”

Orion crossed the room and sat down at his desk. “I won’t pretend to know the outcome of our fight – but I can take a pretty good guess,” he began. “Like all true Christians, they put their faith in Him. And now He has put His faith in you to save mankind. There’s a chance you won’t survive – and He knows it.” He smiled at Mykella. “That is His weakness; His faith in failure.”

He put his bare feet up on the desk and locked his fingers behind his head. “And when I do kill you, that is when He will know that He has failed. That is when I will strike at God. That is when I will take control of the universe.”

She shook her head pathetically. “I don’t think that will ever happen.”

“Oh? And what makes you think that?”

“Because I won’t let you do that.”

“My powers are beyond anything you could comprehend,” said Orion behind a sneer. “You should give up now, before the real pain begins.”

Mykella snapped at that remark. “Pain? Try living your whole life with a mother who couldn’t raise you! Who was there, but couldn’t talk to you or scold you when you were bad.”

Orion hesitated before responding to Mykella, who had placed her hands, palms down, on his desk as she leaned closer to him. There was pain in his life; a motherless pain as she had described. He wanted to tell her this, but he didn’t know how to describe what he felt. Finally he placed his feet back on the floor and stood up.

He put his hands down and leaned forward, almost touching her nose with his. “Let me show you what I had to go through. Maybe then you’ll change your song about being raised motherless.”

Mykella wasn’t sure what he was getting at, but she had formed an idea in her mind. It was Agnes who had suggested using Time to fight Orion. Mykella had told Orion that she wanted to know him, now she is getting that chance; to know the real Orion.

But how far back was he going to take them?

Orion dipped his fingers into her mind and chuckled. “Dear God, Child; you’ve seen the crucifixion of Christ, so I don’t think going that far back would be of any use.” He shook his head. “No, I think we’ll go back to my childhood. There you will see what real pain is like. All those humans I’ve killed will mean nothing once you have seen my pain.”

“It couldn’t be that bad,” she said.

Orion shook his head and then thought of something else to add. “I should warn you: Everything that happens in my past will happen to you. You will not be just a ghost looking into the past – you will be a part of history once you’re there. The people you see will see you as well.”

“Including your child self?”

“Perhaps,” he shrugged. “I’ve never attempted to go back to that damned place in time.”

“So we can interact with whoever we see?” He nodded. “Then why didn’t you ever go back to change history?”

“Because there’s nothing I would have changed. If I’d’ve changed something, even the smallest, least amount, it might have changed what I was to become now.” He paused and then sighed out of boredom. “But I wouldn’t worry about your pretty little head; I don’t think there’d be anyone who would want to interact, as you say, with you.”

Mykella cleared her throat, shrugging off the insult. “Well then, when are we going to go?”

He gave her a sadistic smile of pure pleasure. “We’re already there, my sweet.”

“What?”

“This is my father’s chambers. I made mine from what I could remember of his.”

“How long have we been here?”

“Right after you freed my bird.”

“But that’s impossible,” she said, shaking her head. “We never even moved from this place,” she replied and Orion detected a hint of anxiety in her voice.

“My, my,” he said behind a grin. “You’re not afraid of my past, are you?”

She knew she could not lie to such a beast and so she shook her head. “No, it’s not that. I’m worried that you moved us without me even feeling it.”

“And this puts doubts into your head,”

“Yes.”

“As it should.”

There was a heavy pause between them; one where Orion was fingering her mind again. Only one other time had he traveled back to this era. He did not intend on killing anyone. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

During one of his many states of depression, he went back in his dreams in an attempt to stop himself from killing Lady Leigh, his only friends’ lover. He felt that, by saving her, the bond between Alexius and he would have been stronger.

But that entire episode proved that he enjoyed watching himself take her life. He had enjoyed that show of power. He liked watching Alexius’ terror-stricken face as he, the older Orion, watched from a darkened corner of the room where not even his younger self could see him.

Orion smiled at Mykella. “You don’t fully believe you are in my past, do you?” He didn’t wait for her reply, but merely walked over to the window. “Come, see for yourself.”

She hesitated for a moment, but then curiosity won and she went over to stand by Orion’s side. Mykella was beside herself as she first scanned the horizon and saw something she has never seen before: Life!

There were trees everywhere she looked. She saw flowers of every shape, size, and color; the purple ones were her favorite.

But then she looked down into the courtyard and saw tall hedges lining the perimeter. And standing next to these tall green hedges, men in armor stood and fought each other with swords.

She was about to ask if this was a battle, but Orion shook his head.

“They are sparring, training, for want of a different word.”

He watched his father’s army spar for several minutes and then he looked back at Mykella. “Everyone trains for six hours a day in combat,” he said and watched her face for any change.

“Why so much? Doesn’t that seem a little harsh?”

He smiled. “Possibly, by today’s standards. I trained for nine hours a day, seven days a week. By the time I was sixteen, I was about to be knighted.”

Now she turned to face him. “About to be?” He nodded. “Then you weren’t. What happened?”

“Ilias and Alexius,” he replied. “Ilias came to me at a very young age – I can’t remember when exactly. But I began using my new powers and incorporating them into my training. Alexius came to me later and gained my trust. He was the only person I ever told of my powers. He never told anyone.”

He paused, recalling his friend’s face as he killed Leigh. He had gained Alexius’ trust, only to crush it in that momentary show of power.

“What happened to Alexius?”

She saw that Orion’s eyes had dropped as he explained. “He began meeting Barbus Whitaker,” he said.

“So?” She looked confused at that answer.

Orion smiled – a deep heart-felt smile at that. “You’re not familiar with Dreamkiller lore, are you?” She shook her head and he continued. “I had a book, a sacred book, which told the location of the key to the Forbidden Realms. Barbus Whitaker, the man who trained me and watched over me like a father should, stole the book from me.”

She nodded her head as she understood the connection between Alexius and Whitaker, and how Orion took that as treason.

“I transformed Alexius into a hideous Dreamkiller just to keep him with me. And in 1988, Tracy Kingston, Vincent’s mother, turned him back into his human self and then killed him.”

Orion paused as he heard a sound. There were heavy footfalls coming down the hallway – coming to this room. He knew the sound of his father’s walk. “Father’s coming,” he said with a grin.

Mykella wasn’t sure what to expect when she would see Orion’s father. Was he as evil, or more so, than his son?

“Yes,” said Orion and he smiled. “He is an evil man,” he cautioned, reading her thoughts. “But I am the more evil, as you thought. His anger with me is because he didn’t understand my powers.”

Before she could say anything, the door opened and in walked King Darvon without stopping once to question his guests. With long strides, Darvon walked over to his bed and carefully took off his fox-fur coat and placed it on the foot post; just as Orion had done with his cloak.

He turned and sat down on the bed with a long sigh.

“The hunt was unenjoyable, Father?”

Darvon looked up at Orion behind tired eyes. “Come to pay yer King another visit?” He wasn’t surprised that Orion was here. Then he looked over at Mykella and snickered. “You come to boast of a new conquest, Fear?”

Orion was about to protest the use of his previous name, but Mykella stepped forward.

“I seriously doubt that I’m a conquest,” she said. “I come as a visitor – nothing more, I assure you.”

Darvon shook his head. “Get out of my sight,” he said to Orion. “And take your whore with you.”

Mykella had never heard the word whore before, but she found it offensive none-the-less and she lifted a hand to Darvon. “I thought I already told you; I’m not,” But she was cut off as Darvon raised his own hand.

“Enough,” he said and almost yelled. “Take her to the Great Hall then; there should still be food.” Then he looked down at his boots. “Lord knows, you never ate a damned thing when you were a kid.”

“I ate plenty – just not in your company.”

“My company is not good enough for you, eh?” Darvon stood up and Mykella noticed that he stood well above his son’s head. His shoulders were massive, as was his neck.

She looked beside her and saw that Orion had closed his eyes. When he opened them, he glanced at her. “Come, let’s leave.” Then he looked back at his father. “It’s time for my lesson on discipline,” he said with a sneer that only they understood.

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Mykella looked behind Darvon, hanging on the wall, and saw a coiled whip that dangled three metal balls from its end.

“Aye,” replied Darvon, almost sympathetically. “Where should I find the little Bastard this time?”

Orion shook his head and turned to the door. “Where I always was; the garden.”

He opened the door and held it for Mykella as she walked out into the hallway. Once he closed the door behind him, she turned and faced him with a grin on her face.

“You’re being nice to me,” she said.

He chuckled and pushed past her. “Don’t get any pretty pictures in your head; I just wanted out of that room,” he replied and began walking.

She stared at his back for a moment and then sprinted to catch up. “Why do you hate him so much?”

Orion stopped suddenly and turned to her and looked down into her face. “In a few minutes, he’s going to find a young boy in the garden and he’s going to whip him to near-death.” He paused and then looked away. “Yes, Mykella,” he said, reading her thoughts. “That boy was me.”

“Why did he whip you?”

Orion almost smiled. “Because it showed him his strength. Much like myself, don’t you think?”

She shook her head and then looked forward. “Where are you taking us?”

“Don’t you want to see the whipping?”

“No.”

Orion looked at her and smiled. “I should think not,” he said. “We’re going to the Great Hall like Father suggested. After what I put the world through, I’m sure you must be hungry.”

“That’s an understatement,” Mykella replied behind a smile of her own.

They walked for several minutes and during that time Mykella kept thinking about how Orion still called Darvon his Father. It sounded out of respect – the way he used the term.

“No,” grunted Orion and he startled her. “I do not respect that Bastard.”

“Then why do you address him as Father?”

Orion shrugged his shoulders. “What else should I call him?” He turned to face her. “If I had respected him, would I have killed him?”

They came to a door at the end of the hallway and he opened it.

“I guess not,” she said and went through the door.

They descended a long narrow staircase made of stone and at the bottom, she found herself standing in the doorway of an enormous room. There were long tables and matching benches lining the center of the room.

She turned and saw a large chair in front of the tables. “That’s where Father sits,” she heard Orion whisper in her ear.

Several men and women walked in and out through a door at the opposite end of the Great Hall. They didn’t seem to take notice of Orion and Mykella as they made their way into the Hall.

Mykella looked from the throne to Orion and saw that he had been staring at someone. She turned and saw that he was looking at a tall man with brown-red hair and a short beard.

“Who is he?”

Orion blinked, suddenly aware that he had been staring. “That is the man who changed my life.”

“Barbus Whitaker,” she replied with a nod.

He smiled and looked at her. “You’re taking notes, I see. I don’t know what good that’ll do you.”

They turned back to steal another look at Barbus, but Barbus was walking toward them with a smile on his face.

“I cannot believe thy eyes,” cried Barbus with a smile and he opened his arms. He was looking directly at Orion; not Mykella. “Your powers have surpassed even Time, I see.”

Orion’s eyes narrowed. “How did you,”

Barbus shook his head. “Come, come,” he said. “Alexius has been worried about you. He told me of your powers. I was beginning to wonder how you had advanced so quickly during your training.” He finally looked at Mykella and bowed his head slowly as he kept his eyes fixed on hers.

Orion stared at the man who pretty much raised him like his own flesh and blood without a single movement on his lips. Finally, Orion grinned. “You have no idea of my powers, Master Whitaker.”

Barbus smiled and slapped Orion on his back. “I would love to hear of it,” he began.

“I’m sure you would,” replied Orion under his breath.

“But I do have to leave you at once. I must feed Queen Nanaac.”

Ah, thought Orion with a nod. The Queen – my mother – is still alive.

“Have you seen Alexius of late? I cannot find the wretched boy and we need to get your celebration feast prepared.”

Orion laughed as he remembered the celebration feast. He had transformed Alexius into a Dreamkiller only two nights ago. And the feast – oh, what a lovely feast it will be! It was at this feast, commemorating Orion’s sixteenth birthday that he announced his plans to breed a new army that would kill in the dreams of their enemies.

And it was this feast, too, that Barbus stole the infamous book.

“No,” said Orion. “I haven’t seen him.”

Barbus nodded and bowed his head to Mykella once again before taking his leave to head into the kitchen.

“So, why didn’t you kill him?”

Orion turned to her with a smile. “Let’s sit and eat,” he said and gestured to the table. “I’ll tell you what you wish to know.”

“Everyone knew of the three prophecies. After all, it was my mother who foretold them,” Orion began as he took a forkful of food and shoved it into his mouth.

Mykella watched him for a moment and then looked down into her plate. Some animal had died for her to eat – a pig, she remembered Orion telling her. She had never seen any meal like this: a plate of pork, a smaller plate of green vegetables, and a large cup of what he had called wine.

“If I were to have killed Whitaker,” continued Orion after he took a gulp from his cup. “Then the prophecies would have been void – even if I went back to kill him.” He looked into her green eyes. “Believe me, Mykella; I wanted so dearly to kill him; to watch his life drain through my fingers.”

There was nothing she could say to this, so she nodded her head slowly. “What about Alexius? Since you could travel back in time in dreams,”

“So can you,” he replied, cutting her off. She shook her head and he went on to elaborate. “In fact, it was you who brought us here. I merely supplied the images that you are seeing.”

She closed her eyes. If it was true, then where else could she take them?

“When you’re through here, I want you to take us into the future; I want to show you what will come.”

Before she could say anything else, a young man passed their table. He didn’t take any notice of them sitting there, watching him as he walked on by with his head lowered and apparent blood stains through the back of his shirt.

Orion lowered his eyes and Mykella noticed the change in him.

“That’s you, isn’t it?”

“If you want to know me, then follow me,” he said and looked after his younger self.

“What about you? Where will you be?”

He smiled. “This is still, figuratively speaking, my dream. I can go anywhere. You pulled us here, I cannot leave; but I can still do whatever I want.”

“Where can I find you?”

“Keep looking, my sweet,” he said and stood up. He leaned over to her. “The Crusades have begun.” He reached out and took her hand and brought it to his lips. “Until we meet in the next Crusade, adieu, my love.”

He turned and began walking back the way they had come.

“How can I find you in your dream,” she called to him, but he didn’t stop walking and then he was out of the room, and she felt abandoned. She may not like him, but in a way, he was now her guide through the Dream Crusades whether she liked it or not.

After a moment, she stood and walked through the opposite doorway – where the younger Orion went through. But once she stepped into the large hallway, she lost sight of him.

She walked passed stranger upon stranger and they still didn’t notice her. She didn’t understand how a person such as she – dressed in blue jeans and a button-down shirt – could go unnoticed.

She reached an intersection where a cross hallway appeared and she stopped, looking in every direction. There was no sight of Orion.

“Excuse me,” she said as she approached a woman wearing a blue dress with an apron tied around her midsection. “Do you know which way Orion went?”

At first, the young woman gave Mykella a confused expression, and then she smiled. “I have not heard of Orion walking the earth,” she said and looked past Mykella.

Mykella followed the gaze and her eyes fell upon a statue of a tall man with a featureless face carrying a long staff, lifted over his head as if about to strike someone down with it.

The woman raised her hand in admiration for her god Orion.

Mykella recalled Darvon referring to Orion by a different name. What was it? Then she nodded to herself. “Fear,” she said. “Have you seen Fear?”

The woman’s smile faded and a look of disgust took its place. “He is most likely in his room; weeping,” she replied and quickly brushed past Mykella.

“That’s great,” Mykella said to herself behind sarcasm. “Did she tell me where his room was? No.”

Moments later, Barbus walked up to her with a concerned expression on his face. “You should not be talking to yourself out loud, M’Lady,” he said. “Otherwise, people will think that you are a witch conversing with the devil.”

“I was just,”

“I know.” He turned to look down the hall. “Please, come with me. We have urgent matters to discuss.”

“It’s important that I find Orion – Fear – first,” she protested.

“Not yet,” he said and shook his head. “I know who you are.”

She raised an eyebrow in suspicion. “Yeah? And who am I?”

“You are the Chosen One,” he answered in a hushed voice. “Please, we need to talk.”

Mykella accepted and he led the way in the opposite direction through the hallway.

As they walked, she passed several people, men and women, who nodded their heads to her as if they, too, knew who she was.

“Do they know?”

Barbus glanced at her and forced a smile. “In here,” he replied and opened a door to their left. “Please, sit, M’Lady,” he said and gestured to a high-back chair which was a luxury compared to what she had grown up with.

She sat down and smiled as she felt the cushions all around her.

He took a seat behind a desk and pulled out a scroll from a top drawer. He laid it on top of the desk and unrolled it.

She looked down and was surprised to see a picture of a girl painted on the top half. “She looks like,”

“You,” replied Barbus while looking into Mykella’s green eyes.

“To answer your question,” he continued. “Yes, they know who you are, in a sense.”

“In a sense,” she repeated.

“In the sense that you are predestined to fight the Child.” He rolled up the scroll and placed it back into the drawer. “You must understand that this castle is divided. Those who are with Fear and those against Fear.”

Mykella nodded and looked around the bare room. “What is this place?” She didn’t mean to change the subject, but her innocence won.

“This is my chamber-office. In here,” he tapped his desk, “Are my records of both Darvon’s army and your prophecy. In my chamber up, I have nothing but a bed.”

“So why are you telling me all this?” She looked back at Barbus. “I mean, is there a reason? No,” she was struggling to find words to convey her question in a way he could understand. “Is it important that I know that you know who I am?”

Barbus smiled and leaned forward. “It is important only if you fight Fear here, because I can have an entire legion of troops from Grendel Keep ready to serve you.”

She thought this over, her heart beating heavy in her chest. “But I’m not supposed to kill anyone in this time. Otherwise Orion – Fear – would not exist in my time.”

He leaned back and just looked at Mykella for a moment. “And you are afraid that if Fear is not alive in your time, then you will not be alive?”

“Well, yeah,” she replied, as if that was the way everyone thinks.

“Tell me of your time – what is it like?”

She smiled. “There really isn’t much to tell,” she said and then told him about her life and the times she had grown up in. She told him that, deep down, she always knew that this wasn’t the way life should be.

He listened to her story without saying a word until she was done. “Tell me this, Mykella,” he began. “What would happen to you if we just killed Fear, leaving your ancestors to live and propagate?”

“Propagate?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “To have children. What would happen if your ancestors kept having children – without worrying about the Great War or the prophecies?”

She thought for only a second and her heart began beating faster with hope. “I’d have a normal life.”

He nodded. “You would have a mother and father. Even friends,” he said, and as an afterthought, “And I would not have to steal that damned book.”

They stared at one another for a while and finally Mykella extended her hand. He took her hand and held it gently. “When do we attack,” she asked.