Part 7
The Return
7.1
Kassius
stood there in bewilderment on his return to the world he once knew. He had
left the world from the rear of a Hall by walking into a metal ring, He had
returned by a similar ring in a dark cavern but what greeted him was different
from where he had stepped before. There was no more the hall he once stepped in
but a burnt down area where only three pillars stood reaching for the open sky.
He looked back to the metal ring and noticed it had cracked in many place. It
was propped up by the metal cables held by the hoists.
“Oh,
my poor soul.” Merlin rushed forward to greet the newly arrived assassin. He
was still clad in his heavy robe and with his fedora hat. The sorcerer looked
fray in his torn robe, and his fedora was not spared with tear on the side.
“You
made it.” Merlin exclaimed out. “Welcome back. I was advised that you have the
Ark.”
The sorcerer
held out his right hand for the Ark but Kassius ignored it. He stepped forth to
view the sight beyond the walls. There were more rubble and collapsed walls,
while in between it were people of all ages. They were clinging to their
shelter while above them the sight of a dirigible flew overhead. Most of the
looked wounded and there were many who were clinging onto their loved ones for
the last moment of life. He saw then the wounded stepping up to the new call
for volunteers to defend the Runes. Then there was the ground fire at the
flying contraption, but it was ineffective at that height. The dirigible had
its sides opened and explosives were rolled off to level the resistance at the
ground.
“What
happened here?” Irina who had followed close behind asked the older man.
“You
have been away for over five years now.” Merlin explained. “Dimension crossing
have their implications. What you may perceived to be weeks, could be months in
the crossing.”
“When
King Richard learned of your crossing, he had massed up more of his army to
invade the Runes among others which are considered sacred to the people in
search of the Ring. He had caused an exodus of these mis-placed people to come
here to protect it. They have also heard of the Ark, and it was returning here.
With that hearsay, they have flocked here despite the threats and killing. They
will fight to the last to protect the Ark, which they believed will turn the
tide of the war.”
“But
not all is lost. While we defend here with the mass of bodies, we are preparing
at other locations.” Merlin sounded out his confidence. “As we speak, we are
building our own fleet of dirigibles, and weapons.”
“You
are crazy.” Derreen spoke out. “Demented would be an appropriate definition.
How could you sacrifice so much life on that crazy hope?”
“It’s
a needed sacrifice for the future of this senseless war.” Merlin replied. “Yes,
I am demented to ask them to protect what may have been a long wait, but that
wait had come to an end. The Ark, please.”
Kassius
reached into his bag and withdrew the Ark. He felt the weight of the quest had
become heavier when he looked at the wounded and grieving families. He then saw
the strangers among the people. He turned to Merlin.
“I
recognized not them. Who are they?”
“Kassius,
there are something you need to know. The world is no more the same when you
left. We have changed. The world had changed. King Richard is now the ruler of
more than you had known as the land. He now ruled over a bigger land, with
numerous lieges’ under his influence.” Merlin explained.
“How
could this be?” Kassius asked.
“It
may be the Ark.” Merlin told him. “I had it moved when I found it had the power
to shift the world events. When you moved it here, you created a new world. It
thought it would bring about the downfall of Richard, but instead it built him
an empire instead. Just as he had built one in the other dimension with his
other self. When I came back here, I found the world had changed. I had been
waiting here for you since then. I feared if I travel, I may come back to a
different world much worse than this.”
“No,
Merlin. You are wrong.” Kassius replied. “Richard had part of the Ark. He had
used it to move the events of the World. He may had moved back in time and
recreated a new world.”
Kassius
looked to the Ark in his hand. He was tempted to destroy it but Merlin stopped
him.
“There
may be a way to put things right. We have to place the Ark back in its proper
place and hopefully then, the worlds would revert to its original dimensions
and courses of events would have been adjusted for better.” Merlin told him.
“Then
we have to find Noah.” Kassius told him. “It’s the only person who could
control the Ark to its original course.”
End
of Book 1
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