Authors: Paul Wigmore
Seb was now sat on the white rug between the coal effect wall mounted fireplace and the coffee table
, reaching once again for his brandy
(which had been topped up several times by now)
, he always felt more at home on the floor for some reason. If you asked he would never really be able to explain why. “It just feels more comfortable” he would say.
‘Can I see the disc?’ he asked. Clara had told him how it had appeared at the bottom of the tapestry, after the whole thing had somehow set itself alight and then just as quick fizzled out again.
‘Huh?’ she asked, not really knowing what had been asked at all. She was just sat there, lost in a world of Dragon’s eyes, gazing at the disc while she was turning it over and over in her hands as if the pattern might change with each revolution.
‘Well seeing as you woke me up I think you should at least let me take a look at what’s troubling you... it’s only fair don't you agree?’
She looked up, this time registering him fully, as if just looking up from the disc had brought her back to the real world.
‘Yes... yes of course, I’m sorry... here’.
When he took th
e disc, which Clara had called a talisman from her hands; he could see that she didn't really want to let it go.
He
noticed that she had a sparkle in her eyes when she looked at the disc, a sparkle that he had not seen there since before Stanley died, and as he took it, she seemed to sag a little.
He held it up to the light, not that he was going to be able to see through it or anything. He just wanted to see how the light played on the
gold or gold plate as he first suspected. When he looked directly at the talisman, he was astonished at its beauty. The thing that really took his breath away was the fact that both of the Dragons had five clawed toes. This really was an amazing piece of work.
He could see that it was pure gold. That was evident just from the weight of the thing. It fitted
snugly in the palm of his hand as he closed his fingers around it to get a good feel of it.
‘Do you know what this is?’ he asked as he held the talisman up in front of her.
She looked back at him with wide eyes that knew too much, had seen too much, yet were still trying to deny the
truth. She lifted her head from her hands for a moment and looked straight into his eyes and as she did, he realised she had the look of someone that has aged at least ten years, but in the space of the last ten hours. Her eyes were haunted with the visions she had seen and the unkempt hair made her look slightly mad so her next sentence really didn’t offer her sanity any authority.
‘I think it’s the end of the world Seb’
she answered in a quivering voice that could have been partly to do with the fact that she was shaking from head to toe, but he could tell from those eyes,
those haunted eyes
she was just plain scared to death.
“The end of the world Seb”.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
‘Well, if it were three hundred years ago and we were in ancient China, then yes I would have to agree with you. It really would be the end of the world, not just for you but for your family and any friends of said family’.
‘How do you mean’ she asked
‘Well ...it’s well known that dragons represent power and the Chinese dragons were benevolent creatures, not like the western dragons. But this.... this is pure gold and the dragon emblazoned across it has five toes’
He stood up and held it up in front of his eyes again as if he were just making sure.
‘But why would it be the end for me and family?’ Clara was looking puzzled.
‘Ah well
I have touched upon the subject of ancient myths and legends now and again with my pupils. The Eastern dragons were quite mystifying creatures’. He sat down next to her and showed her the engraving of the two dragons on the front.
‘If you look at it closely you can see that each dragon has five claws’ Clara hadn’t noticed this before and didn’t see how it was relevant.
‘Well it is said that only emperors or persons of nobility were allowed to wear or display five toed dragons, the lesser people or peasants could only show a three or possibly four toed dragon. If you were caught with this or anything displaying a five toed dragon it would be considered treason then it would be....’ he made a sawing motion across his neck with his hand, ‘for you and your whole family and any friends of your family’.
‘But I’m sure you’re quite safe now’ he chuckled as he put his arm around her. ‘I
won’t let any nasty Chinaman cut your head off’
She pushed him brusquely away from her, it seemed to her that he was making a
joke out of the whole situation, and she didn’t like to be made a mockery of. ‘Don’t make light of this Seb, I came to you as I thought you above all people would listen to me and take me seriously. This is not a joke. I’m not some silly woman who needs comforting or patronizing. If that is your intention then I think it best I leave now’.
She got up to leave and take
the talisman from Seb’s hands. He had a look of startled incredulity and possibly a hint of shame on his face as she did so, but when she touched the Talisman to take it from Seb’s hand; an interesting thing happened. The eyes of both dragons radiated a bright green light. It washed the room in an almost incandescent green glow. Seb stood up and then fell back down as if the muscles in his legs had turned to jelly. Clara was left standing holding the Talisman. He watched as she appeared to be speaking to someone else in the room.
‘Joseph
.’ she half breathed half rasped. ‘Where have you been... I need you more than ever now’ she was looking through the green light emanating from the Talisman at what appeared to be nothing. ‘I can’t hear you please try harder... I need your help’
Seb had no idea what was happening as he watched her holding the Talisman with the funny green light but he did notice as she stood there, in the glow of the Talisman, how beautiful she looked and how strong she now appeared to be. Her hair was ruffling as if
there was a strong wind buffeting past her.
‘Joseph what’s wrong’ she screamed. The wind was getting stronger and stronger, it knocked over their glasses and anything else that was in its way. ‘Why can’t you come over? Why can’t I see you? She screamed.
‘
Find empaaasuun’ w
ere the only words from Joseph before the green light died and Clara dropped the Talisman before passing out on the couch.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The room was silent save the constant bleeping of the machines which the doctors believed was keeping the old man alive, and the occasional raspy breath that his body allowed him. Truth was he knew he had lived way past his years and it had nothing to do with the medicines shoved down his throat or the pills crushed up into his food. Or even the intravenous drips dug into his arms as if he were a human pin cushion. No...the only thing keeping him alive was the
Dragonfire
. His dad had also lived beyond his years and he had told him that one day
The Guardian
would seek him out to guide her on her way. Liu had respected his Father like any son should. He had listened to his many wondrous stories of their family’s royal lineage that they had lost in a civil war many hundreds of years ago; he also told him stories of Angels and Demons forever in battle while they sat in the orange lantern light of the garden his father had laboured over for many years. His father had placed lanterns all around the beautifully manicured oasis, with a little stream running down the east side of the garden and an ornamental bridge crossing over the stream with more lanterns hanging from it. Perfectly clipped little trees bordered the stream with pink blossoms. The garden was Junior Liu’s favourite place in the world when he was a little boy. It was all gone now of course....as was his Father
Liu had waited patiently now for the past five years in “
The Old Gables
” retirement home. He knew at some point she would come looking for him, at least he had hoped, as he wasn’t physically well enough to find another guide to succeed him as he had not been fortunate enough to bear a son. His wife had passed many years ago without knowing the joys of motherhood. They had tried for many years before they resigned themselves to the fact that they were not meant to bear children and had made the most of their lives enjoying each other.
His wife,
Mei
had been Liu’s inspiration for the short time they had spent together so when she passed of illness some ten years before. Liu thought that he would soon join her. This was not to be as his father passed the same year as
Mei
but before he did he told Liu the story of The Tapestry and how he had sought
The Guardian
out from many hundreds of fakers and passed it on to her to watch over until the day of the beasts were upon them.
Liu now took solace in the fact that since early that morning he knew he would now be able to play his part and guide
The Guardian
onto the correct path. He also knew it would take his very last breath to do so.
In the early hours of that morning Liu had woken in a cold sweat and a feeling of utter dread in the pit of his stomach that he knew it could only be one thi
ng... something had awoken the Dragons... which meant the Dragonfire talisman had been released to
The Guardian
.
As if to confirm this to him he caught a glimpse of light from the window past the bank of monitors at the side of his bed and watched the rain play on the window as it ran down towards the bottom ledge, but there was something odd about the shape the rivulets were forming, the rain drops seemed to meet in the middle of the window and then to Liu’s astonishment they formed the shape of a three pronged trident with an odd irregularity half way up the middle prong. The water seemed to glow with an odd tinge of green before falling to the bottom of the window pane.
In all his days on this earth he had secretly hoped that this day would come, but in the same breath feared it. He knew he was not long for this world and wished upon wish that he could now do his part and stand against whatever horrors were about to be unleashed on mankind... but he was nothing but a frail old man that had spent his life in the shadow of a beautiful woman and when she was gone, all he was left with was a promise to his father which he was about to keep.
He raised his bed and called for the nurse, she brought him the glass of water that he requested and placed it on the nightstand beside his bed.
He sat in darkness for a while, just contemplating and watching the rain try to beat a way in through the window before he turned to the glass on the nightstand.
Something inside of him told him that he no longer had the ability to control the liquid in the glass but, it was one f
inal test...
just to confirm.
He concentrated on the water a lot harder than usual, so much so that it began to give him a headache, he sat for over ten minutes unblinking at the water, willing it to move. When it finally did, it was nothing more than a few violent ripples which eventually died down. There was a time when all he would have had to do is look at the water and it would have been bent to his very will. He had never been able to control any other elements, just water as he was only the guide, but he still felt a small part of him inside die. The control had now been passed to
The Guardian
. She now had the power of the Dragons, which was just the same as being a force for Mother Nature herself. Liu knew that she would not know this yet and had to guide her to him so he could keep his promise.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Saul had enjoyed the ride with Gavin when he found Pinky and was more than happy with his protégés initiative. It ripped at his very soul that he could only watch as the sad little man wondered what was happening to him. He dribbled with delight as he watched Gavin then stroll over to the man,
(still in shock that his appendage had been abused and defiled)
and so nonchalantly break every bone in his body. The snapping of the neck was such a beautiful sound that it sent a shudder of bliss down Saul’s non existent spine.
He soooo wanted to be there, he wanted to tear the limbs apart and have the satisfaction of feeling them come away from the joints in his very own hands, he wanted to feel the warm red juice drip down his arms and taste the sweet nectar as it shot from the man’s torn arteries, and to feel it cascade down his chin like a warm shower of blood that would make him feel alive once more. His anger turned to rage and he ran full pelt at the wall of the warehouse, knowing full well what the result would be. But still he did it and it only filled him with even more rage when he realised yet again that he could not pass these walls, not without losing his demonic self... and that was not something that he was willing to give up.... he had to come up with a plan.