The Last Summoning---Andrew and the Quest of Orion's Belt (Book Four) (70 page)

The wind and darkness howled throughout the
land, swirling and grasping at its onlookers as if deeply enraged.
The dark void they had once called The Fallen had opened up wider
and darker than before. Now there was nothing more than a swirling
hole, tormented, and churning, now without form and voice and not a
shard of light to its credit. It writhed and heaved, struggling to
grasp the last sparks of light hovering just out of its reach. It
heaved and gasped, breathing in darkness, billows and billows of
it, great clouds of shadows and the darkness that had come from
inside itself.

Sounds like shattering glass echoed through
the air as the shafts of light from the cracks in the darkness grew
wider, and the darkness began to splinter. The Fallen howled out
one long, and last time, his cries echoing throughout the world as
he tipped over the edge of the tower, and fell, striking the ground
in a terrible quake. The ground shook. Cracks opened up in the
earth and consumed the spawns of darkness that The Fallen had
released. The earth groaned one last time. Then in one quick
moment, as The Fallen fell, the darkness gave way, and split
completely, fracturing into millions of pieces like the shell
broken from the inside out, its thick casing vanishing as the light
came shining through. The raging wind created from the open void
ceased, and the sheet of blackness on the tall tower vanished into
itself and disappeared in a great explosion of light, sending every
orb, every constellation, and every piece of light that it had
stolen, back from whence it came, causing a great calm to settle
over the entire world.

And there it was. Blinding, brilliant, solid
and warm. Light. Though no one was sure where it came from. It was
as if it had always been there, and always would be, like the hope
and light that had settled on them in the darkness. Such a day no
one on earth had ever imagined. If you could call it a day. In that
moment, all struggles came to a standstill. All fighting ceased.
All eyes were turned up. All hearts that had throbbed together felt
as if a great weight had been lifted.

The dark curtain had been drawn back. A great
calm rested over the land as the light of peace ushered over the
world. Light had been born once again. It felt as if it was the
first day of time, where all things had become new, and the clock
was slowly beginning to recalibrate, slowly beginning to tick and
organize itself.

Freddie stared out to the east, looking for
the sun. But it did not rise there. “Where is it?” He breathed,
feeling suddenly very nervous. “Why won’t it come?”

“Over there,” Ivory cried, pointing to the
west.

Freddie jerked his head to where Ivory
pointed, watching in amazement as beams of yellow sunshine crept
over the mountain. The sun was rising in the west. Freddie’s eyes
widened in disbelief. “It’s pattern has changed.”

“Yes,” Ivory murmured, her eyes serious, and
shining. “I suppose we all have.”

Freddie, Ivory and Talic sat together on the
edge of the tower, watching with awe, as the new sun slowly,
gradually, without much fanfare, without any noise to call
attention to itself, rose over the west mountains, bigger,
brighter, warmer than ever before---its yellow light spilling over
the land, washing away every shadow, and baptizing the land in its
pure, new, brilliant light.

How big, and beautiful it looked to Freddie.
The light poured over the land dissolving the shadows, and
cauterizing every dark infected crag, illuminating every dark
corner. Freddie felt a strange melancholy feeling wash over him, as
he gazed at his friends, and then at the new sun. From here, on out
all things would be changed and different---in a way that was new,
and old, like things had finally returned to their proper place
where they had once been a very, very long time ago.

But that was always the way of things.

Sight

“She is gone” Sterling shouted, trying to
pull Lancedon away from Coral’s body. “Your men need you! Do you
not hear the cries of your men?” He signaled outward where soldiers
struggled all around them, battling for their lives. The air was
thick with smoke and darkness. Darkness surged through the ranks of
the army of light, seeping in through the leaks of doubt and
dismay. A cry of fear rang throughout the ranks of Lancedon’s army,
as doubt and fear pressed on them. In this darkness, without
Lancedon’s courage, without his vision, and strength, all seemed
hopeless.

“You must stand!” Sterling insisted. “You
must!”

Lancedon shook his head. “No…I cannot…” He
turned and wept, cradling Coral’s body in his arms. “I killed her.
I killed your sister. I did this.”

“No!” Sterling shouted. “War, did this. The
darkness did this. The darkness we must now fight!”

Lancedon cradled Coral’s head in his hands,
and rocked back and forth. “It is finished. I can no longer fight.
Let the darkness overtake me!”

“You must fight!” Sterling shouted, shaking
Lancedon by the shoulders. “You cannot lose hope! Come! Remember
the brave words you spoke to your men, and apply them to
yourself.”

Suddenly struck by Sterling’s words, he
looked up from Coral’s body, and nodded, still clutching her hand.
“Yes, you are right. I must fight! I cannot lose hope!” He draped
Coral’s body in his arms, and followed Sterling through the tumult
of battle.

“Here!” Sterling shouted, grabbing a
riderless horse. “Get on!”

Lancedon lay Coral down on the ground, and
stood tall. He took Sterling’s hand and they both mounted the
horse.

“For freedom!” Lancedon shouted long and
loud, lifting his eyes to the sky.

An echoing call of renewed hope and
brilliance resounded as Lancedon’s men saw their blind leader no
longer hidden by shadows. “For truth, for light! Onwards, men,”
Lancedon shouted, his voice echoing with power across the darkness.
“ONWARD!”

The moment he spoke the words, his body
glowed with renewed light, and a terrible rumble sounded from
somewhere far off. An amazing flash of light rolled through the
air, scattering the shadows in every direction. A terrible black
hole opened up in the sky, and with it, a powerful wind howled,
washing all the shadows together, tossing them into the black tear
in the sky.

A loud roaring sound, like fire, filled the
air as something brilliant shot across the sky and collided with
the darkness, with an earth-shattering crack so loud and commanding
that all came to a hesitating standstill. The earth groaned and
shook. It was as if the very sky had cracked, and fractured into a
million pieces.

Then, like a whisper in the night, like a
dream that did not seem real, but felt real, light began to pour
through those cracks in the sky, slowly at first, as bit by bit,
the darkness fell away.

With each beam of light that shone through,
The Fallen’s armies retreated, hiding from the light, seemingly
vanishing into the darkness that was now slowly fading. A great
calm fell over the land. All sounds of battle ceased. For there was
no one left for the army of light to fight.

“What’s happening?” Lancedon demanded,
feeling the great pull of darkness and shadows roll away.

Sterling glanced back at Lancedon, his eyes
wide. “The darkness has fallen away!" he shouted, "and the sun, it
rises. But in the...west.”

Lancedon slowly slid off the horse, lifting
his blind eyes to the light that was rising in the west. He held
out his arms and welcomed its coming, feeling its cleansing rays
wash over him, casting out all darkness. His eyes tingled and began
to burn with warmth that was cleansing and powerful. The longer he
stared in the direction of the rising sun, the more his eyes began
to burn and itch. The darkness Morack had breathed over his eyes,
began to crack under this new light. Color, hue, and light began to
enter into his vision. Without realizing it, tears gleamed in his
eyes, fully washing them clean of darkness and shadows. In a
moment, the darkness that had cast his eyes under a shroud slowly
lifted, like a heavy fog touched by the warmth of the sun. Moment
by moment, second by second, this new, burning, brilliant, pure
light cleansed him. No longer was he trapped inside the darkness.
He began to see light and color and dimension.

The sun slowly came into focus, so brilliant
and warm, and cleansing. He could see the blue of the sky slowly
coming into focus behind it, and the fields and mountains beyond.
He held his hands in front of his eyes, seeing them for the first
time in a very long while. The blood from Coral’s wound staining
them vanished in the light of the sun. His eyes filled with wonder.
The ice had melted away beneath their feet, replaced by a lush
grassland filled with dazzling starflowers. He could see Sterling,
tall, strong, and unwavering sitting atop his horse. He could see
his great army of light that had come together, under the rising
sun. Their swords and armor glimmered in the light of dawn. Their
numbers were far greater than he had imagined. The sight of them
filled his heart with joy and gratitude. A thunderous shout of joy
rang throughout the ranks of the army, beginning at the youngest
soldier, to the eldest, until the whole earth was filled with this
joyful cry.

Lancedon’s heart instantly went to Coral. He
turned, and ran to the spot where he had left her, and knelt by her
side. Where she lay, the sun’s cleansing light had not reached her.
“Oh, that you could see this new day as I now can,” he breathed,
cradling her cold form to him, listening to his army of light cheer
as the sun rose higher.

Then, ever so gently, hardly noticeable, the
rays of the sun gleamed down on Lancedon and Coral, in a glorious
ray of light. As the light from the sun reached out over the land
and touched Coral’s body, her wound healed. Her eyes fluttered
opened. “Lancedon?” she sighed, reaching out her hand.

Lancedon stared down at Coral, his face
filled with tenderness and surprise. She was far more beautiful
than he remembered, far more an angel of light than he ever had
realized. “Coral?” he faltered, hardly able to believe what he was
seeing. “You’re alive!” Tears flooded his new eyes, as Coral’s life
came back into her body.

“You can see,” Coral breathed in wonder,
gazing into Lancedon’s now clear, beautiful eyes. She wiped a stray
tear that fell down his cheek, and smiled up at him.

He laughed and kissed her forehead, her
cheeks, and then her lips. She pulled back, and stared at the sun,
the sky, and all the beauty surrounding them.

“Kiss me again,” Lancedon said, pulling her
to him.

Coral turned her lips into a warm smile.
“Lightning never strikes the same place twice, especially in the
same day.” She laughed and kissed his forehead instead of his
lips.

A great mist rose up from the ground as the
snow and ice evaporated, giving a dreamlike appearance to their
surroundings.

Then, as if to add to the beautiful surreal
feeling, Sterling came walking though the mist, his face bright and
happy, linked arm and arm with Lancedon’s sister, Page.

All were reunited once again.

Chapter Fifty-Two

Everything had renewed itself, and changed from the
way it once was, to something better, something new and
stronger.

Freddie felt this. Ivory felt this, and so
did Talic. No. None of them would ever be the same again. So the
sun too, had grown in size, in brilliance, and in the way it moved,
rose, and set.

Light shone over the earth, on all people, on
all nations, pure, undiluted, unfiltered, and blindingly brilliant.
But still they looked on, they too had been changed, their eyes and
vision had been expanded. Just moments before, their whole bodies
had been filled with light, so they did not shrink away from it
when it came to embrace them. They gravitated towards it. They
reached out their hands as if to touch and mold it. The light was
so concentrated, so thick, so beautiful, so uncensored. It seemed
to grow and expand. It was so beautiful that all those on earth
gazed at each other amazed at what they saw, and amazed at the
beauty of each other.

Everyone was transfigured by this light, made
better, as if they somehow began to see themselves and everything
else for what it truly was---light. Nothing was hidden, nothing was
obscure. It was a moment of all moments, a day of all days, a
morning to surpass all mornings, new pure, innocent like a babe
whose skin was soft, fresh, and whose face was full of light.

Freddie stood, and looked all around him at
the brilliance, letting it wash away the shadows and mists of
darkness that had clung to him. Ivory, and Talic’s eyes glistened
with tears. Their faces held the same wonder his did. The darkness
had fallen away, and the light had transformed them. Their faces
were no longer dirty and oily, their clothes no longer torn. All
was new, and clean, and beautiful. They studied each other for a
long moment, then cried out in laughter hugging each other in
exclamations of joy.

Then as suddenly as joy filled their hearts,
their minds went to Andrew. His body lay where The Fallen had once
stood. His body had not changed in this light, his skin was a
splotchy color of coal. Freddie could see every bruise, every scar.
Andrew’s hand lay outstretched, and forever still as if still
reaching for something. His clothes were torn, and laced with
blood. All the light had gone out of his body. Everything Andrew
once was, was used up. The Andrew Freddie had known was not there.
He had gone somewhere far, distant. To where? Freddie wondered.

Ivory knelt down and stroked Andrew’s hair
away from his face, her eyes filling with tears. “Oh, Andrew,
Andrew,” she murmured. “I wish you could see what I see. We did
it.”