Page 26 of Kingdom of Today
“Nice to meet you,” she said, and I thought I heard kindness in her voice.
“You as well.”
Ember clapped, gaining everyone’s attention. “Before anyone decides to rush me, I’m happy to report this garden is time adjacent. We can stay here for years and return to our lives without missing more than a few minutes. Now zip it. Everything I’m about to tell you comes fromThe Book of Soal.” Reverence dripped from her tone. She anchored her arms behind her back, saying, “Sometimes, words must be lived to be seen. Follow me, please.” One step forward. That was all she took, and a cobblestone path appeared out of nowhere.
With Ember at the helm, we walked the path, single file, the air around us shimmering with images. A fantastical world of unimaginable wealth and opulence, with castles made of crystals, gardens teeming with life and color, and roads paved with gold bricks. Trees abounded, birds with glimmering feathers flying from branch to branch. I gasped with delight. Look there! Bees and butterflies!
“This is the Theirland of yesteryear,” Ember announced. “A land Astan the Destroyer would come to infect with his Madness. Perhaps you noticed the statue of him in Bala City. He’s preparing the masses for his next grand entrance. The beginning of the end.”
I pressed a hand over my belly.
The teacher began to teach. “The more you know of the one you battle, the better prepared you’ll be. First fact. Astan wields only two weapons. Lies and fear.”
No one spoke, the students riveted by flashing images of Astan in flight and battle, a thick, black smoke curling from his mouth. I was eager to see and hear more, to learn everything.
“He lives for one purpose,” Ember said. “The devastation of Tsuri, Soal’s son.”
Excuse me? Soal had achild?
Another image appeared, this one featuring a thirtysomething man with a snow-white tunic, scuffed leathers, and a stunning purple robe.
“Astan once served as Tsuri’s second-in-command. Tsuri was married to Rose, whom he adores.”
A woman in a ball gown made of ethereal light appeared next. The closest example of perfection I’d ever seen. She looked as if she’d been spun in moonlight and woven with threads of stardust, a vision too radiant for this world or any other. Petals fell from a crown of roses, catching in her glorious mane of hair. Her eyes reminded me of wishing wells, deep chasms filled with countless dreams.
“Rose and Astan had an affair, and Tsuri retaliated, pouring his wrath upon his former second. Fearing her own retribution, Rose fled, and in her haste, she tumbled to her death.”
The scene showed the perfect fairy-tale beauty tumbling through the night sky, whizzing through clouds and ultimately slamming into land, leaving a large crater that quickly filled with tears.
“Tsuri, who loved her still, poured his life into her, bringing her back from the abyss. He died, and she lived again, as Briar Rose.” Emberspread her arms. “The Rock grew where Tsuri’s body sank, and now Briar Rose and Astan seek to finish him.”
So much to take in. The scene switched, showing the water level sinking while the Rock grew and rose. It had been, was—is—a living entity, and I now walked within him. Wow, wow, wow.
“Know that you cannot outreason Astan,” Ember continued. “He has lived millennia and understands the human mind in ways you do not. There’s no better manipulator. And when that doesn’t work, he uses intimidation. If that fails, he promises you worlds. He’ll even follow through ... at first.” A perfect breeze made her long tresses dance over her shoulders. “His council aids him, all former guards in Tsuri’s army.”
A parade of deities appeared in flashes.
“After soundly defeating Astan and his ilk, and razing Theirland, Soal trapped the lot within their own monuments. They would have remained imprisoned, leaking their hatred, the Madness, until the end of the age if humans hadn’t burned through the invisible veil separating the two worlds.”
War scenes flashed next, the council of gods fighting an invisible force—and losing. Amid the battles, buildings fell, and smoke billowed. And when that smoke cleared, those same deities stood frozen in stone casings, shadows oozing from tiny cracks ... until the sky split with a line of crimson fire and half of the statues vanished. Confused, terrified people appeared in every direction. The Rock, gone.
“As more and more of us became infected, the gods strengthened within their prisons, doing everything in their power to prevent Soal from aiding us,” Ember said. “And yet, he made a way, through Tsuri, weaving the Rock into Ourland.”
She stopped, giving us a moment to absorb her newest revelations. I tried my best. Tsuri. Rose. Excuse me, Briar Rose. Astan. An affair. Life for death and death for life.
“Many of you have heard the gods are waking,” she said, and I realized we were back where we’d started. “The truth is, they are already awake. In fact, some of the lesser gods escaped years and months ago.Something Soal arranged, allowing us to learn and practice on the weakest of the bunch before we face the big bads, who remain trapped within their monuments, disembodied.” Her gaze swung to me, rocking me on my feet. “When they break free, and they will, they’ll require hosts. Humans able to survive the power surge that comes with them.”
I shot a hand into the air, and she nodded at me. “You’re talking about possession,” I said, half question, half statement.
“Yes and no. I’ve seen it happen with the lesser gods I mentioned. They merge their essence with a human’s and fight to take over. Things became distorted for the human. Time, light, shadows, reality. The human then descends into a madness far worse than anything you’ve previously encountered. On the flip side, Soalians are conduits for Soal’s power. It ishislight that glows within us. As we read our books, his words, we fuel it, which makes us stronger conduits.”
She canted her head to the side, frowned, and nodded, as if she listened to someone we couldn’t hear. “All right. I’ve got somewhere to be. Class dismissed.” Her gaze landed on me once again, and I shook under the weight of it. “Think about all I’ve said and how it might apply to you. Okay?”
“Yes.”
Both instructor and students dispersed, but Mom hung back withBeeeepand me, as I put on my shoes. We had only just started discussing the shocking history lesson when Domino approached.
“You may read your book,” he said, attention fixed on me, “or remain with your mother, but you cannot do both. The choice is yours.”
