DRAFT- Relic of Time #1, War of Prophecies, #2, ROTSW

~~~~Rough Draft - the complete, edited version is available on Kindle under the title Relic of Time and Prophecies. Book 2 is War of Prophecies releasing on March 12.~~~~~ I will be putting the rest of the chapters for books 1&2 back up once I put books 3&4 on Amazon.~~~~

Prologue:

Saving the Sons of

the Prophecies

Over twenty-thousand years before the final war, at the start of the Cataclysm War…

The Blind Oracle of Adamos stood over the navigation terminal as she typed in the last set of coordinates. “This accounts for the galactic drift that will occur during your journey, Lord Adamos, Lord Odini. Once you arrive, the Tear of Heaven’s Hope must be buried under the watchtower, to disguise it until it is time for the Children of the Tear to return home.” Her voice was calm and sure, she knew what they would do because they had done it.

Lord Odini crossed his arms, “The spell to confuse the memories of our home will affect generations.”

“It is the only way, my Lord Odini. The City of New Hope is only meant to be a temporary sanctuary. When the time of the corrupted ice comes, an oracle will guide the lost prince on the dangerous journey to save the remnant of Aetheria. The prince will bring the Seeing Stone to guide the Children of the Tear home.” The blind oracle spoke from hindsight, not foresight.

Lord Adamos chuckled, “You sound more like an oracle every day, Fleur.”

Smiling at him in the sad, lost way she sometimes had, she agreed, “I have spent the last year listening to you and Mina speaking in metaphors.”

“Oracles always keep secrets,” Lord Odini growled.

“You would know, you’re one of us too.” She turned her scarred, clouded eyes to him, “Too much knowledge of the future causes more harm than good. Choices must be freely made and manipulating Time is not without consequences. Consequences we have yet to pay for.”

She reached toward him, so he took her hand as she continued, “By using the Relic of Time, to help you save the Remnant from the Shadows, we have already altered what the Devourer purposed to change by sending the Shadows back. I still have to kill the last and face their Dark Queen Entity. I can only pray to the Light that I have enough strength left. Your escape gives me hope.”

“I will pray for you, Fleur. Remember your fate is not set. Do not let the Darkness overcome you and die here.” Adamos sounded grieved. “My son needs a future with you.”

Fleur tipped her head at him and smiled showing she carried hope. “The Shadows can’t kill me, my Lord, they have tried and failed too many times. They always forget I can bend their power against them. I will finish my task, then I will go home and rest.”

Cheerfully she insisted. “Lord Odini, please tell your brothers to notify the last of the families to bring their children and start putting the ones here into the sleep chambers. It is almost time for your departure.”

“It will be done, Oracle.”

During the Cataclysm War…

The Lord of Odini and the Lord of Adamos were working on setting up the gardens of the Tear of Heaven’s Hope which would provide Adamos with fresh food for his long trip when there was a klaxon from the scanner and communication room.

Rushing up the ladders instead of taking the one lift, they scurried into the room.

Odini stared in confusion between the visual display of the binary star system behind them and the scan indicating a pulse of Chronos energy. “I don’t understand. I thought we would not be able to see both stars after the detonation.”

“We know the star was destroyed. Perhaps it takes time for the ember to burn out.” Adamos scowled.

“We would have to slow the ship to use a portal to go back,” Odini revealed.

Adamos folded his hands, resting his chin against them as he contemplated. “No, we keep going and keep watch. Yllumina is dead, but Fleur is not. We have to believe in her, she is our Hope. She will not fail.”

Odini nodded but he thought about all his great-great-grandson told him about the War Oracle’s compulsive, driven nature and he regretted how she would be made. “Let’s finish your gardens.”

“You need to go into your sarcophagus,” Adamos chastised him.

“Not yet, I will sleep when Xelusia’s light turns to shadow.”

“My friend, you are thousands of years too late.”

As they traversed the levels back to the gardens, Adamos silently prayed the Shadows wouldn’t follow them to their sanctuary, but he knew it was a futile entreaty because he had seen in Fleur’s memories the fruition of Yllumina’s dark premonitions.

3,211 years after the Cataclysm War…

Lord Adamos the fourth of the High House of Adamos looked down on a blue and green world. The Tear of Heaven’s Hope made it safely to the haven world that would someday be called Terrearth. They escaped the Cataclysm, but he felt uncertain, pensive. As he keyed in the code to activate the landing sequence, he worried. The event did not go as Fleur expected, but she did not know how long the Cataclysm War lasted because the records had been lost in her time. So many things could have gone wrong. As the Tear of Heaven’s Hope turned for re-entry, Adamos said a prayer that hiding Kaleth and his sons here would be enough to preserve the timeline and bring victory over the Shadows in the far future. He would wait a millennium or two to wake his son just to be certain the Shadows had not followed them. He had to trust the time-traveling oracle and the prophecies about the sons of his house and their allies because those who moved through time would determine the future.

Modern times…

Dae Jeong looked down on his first-born son Davin while his wife Carlotta nursed him for the first time. He inhaled and exhaled slowly as the feeling of joy and pride threatened to explode from his chest. He knew his son would be a great man someday.

A nurse came in and, to Dae’s intuition, something was amiss because she insisted, “I need to take your son back to the nursery immediately. Give him to me.”

His wife seemed to sense it too as she held their son closer. “But they said he could stay in my room.”

“It’s fine… it’s fine, just a few tests,” the nurse insisted, reaching for the baby, and trying to take him from his mother as Carlotta pushed her gloved hands away.

“No.”

“Where is your hospital staff identification?” Dae demanded as he grabbed her wrist; her skin felt unnaturally cold then her eyes turned solid black. “What are you?”

Three people burst into the room as the nurse knocked him away with surprising strength. He collided with the wall hard enough to stun him. A brilliant white light followed by a golden glow filled the room as red glowing shapes and symbols appeared on the floor, walls, and ceiling.

“Don’t touch them!” A short woman glowing like an angel shouted as she stabbed the strange nurse with a sword and forced her into the bathroom.

The tall blonde woman touched Carlotta, “Sleep.” His wife slumped unconscious immediately as the woman picked up Davin. “He’s okay! It didn’t hurt him.”

Dae pushed himself to his feet as something like an explosion came from the bathroom, then the room fell silent. “What is the meaning of this?! Who are you people?”

“Do not fear, the Oracle has banished the… demon.” The young man’s voice was the deepest he had ever heard. As he kept his hand on the wall, glowing red wisps moved toward the symbols. Sensing his question, the mage answered, “It is a ward of silencing and protection so no one will know what is happening in here and the others looking for you won’t know this one was killed or where.”

Dae looked into the bathroom when the short woman turned on the shower. There was an ashen husk of a body crouched on the tile; he watched it melt and wash down the drain.

“It’s okay, Dae.” The petite woman panted, “You don’t know us yet, but we came to rescue your son.” She held out a clear acrylic rectangle that was the size of a cellphone. When he touched it, it displayed a picture of himself much older with his son as an adult and a boy who was probably his grandson. He gaped at the creature which stood in the background. “In several decades, you will give me this picture and tell me about this day.”

“Mom, I need to heal him, and we need to go.” The tall blonde handed Dae his son then glowing golden energy like the warmth of sunlight surrounded him. His bruises vanished. “Don’t worry. Your wife won’t remember what happened, she’ll think it was a bad dream.”

“Thank you for saving us,” Dae responded then asked, “What was… that?” He nodded to the last of the ash washing away as the short woman shut off the water. “A demon?”

“Yes, a sort of shadow demon; they are trying to change time.” The short woman took the picture back and smiled at him with the strangest lavender colored eyes he had ever seen. “Take the job on the east coast, the Shadows don’t know you lived there. Keep Davin safe so he can save the world and our species more than once.” Her words held the ring of prophecy.

“I will. Thank you for coming from the future to protect him,” Dae expressed his gratitude again. No one knew of the job offer far away from Grand Bay City, so he knew she spoke the truth.

Then she hugged him, and it felt like the love of a family member surrounded him. Her eyes glistened with tears as she stepped back. “It is so good to see you again, Papa Dae.”

“I look forward to meeting you someday,” he declared. The red symbols on the wall vanished, and they left like normal visitors. Sitting in a chair, he stared at his infant son in wonder.