Book 2 of the Eternal series

Chapter 13

Ray put Roman’s arm over his shoulder, and he helped his cousin to his feet.

“Come on. Let’s get him inside,” he said, and Ashta and Riah nodded with concerned looks.

Carefully, they helped Roman into the house and up the stairs to Ashta’s bedroom. Ray helped him to the bed, and they helped him lay back on the pillows.

“Hang in there, cous,” said Ray, and Roman coughed as he nodded.

Quickly, Riah called upon the air element, and she made a fresh breeze blow through the room.

“Thank you,” Roman said breathlessly, and Riah nodded as tears pooled in her eyes.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and Riah wiped her face as Ashta walked over to the door and answered it. Yinlin was standing at the door, and he looked at her with a dead-eyed smile.

“Are you getting ready for the party?” he asked, and Ashta shook her head.

“No. We are not going. My boyfriend is sick,” she said, and Yin looked at her as he tilted his head to the side.

“You are a little young to be having a boyfriend,” he said sternly, and Ashta rolled her eyes.

“Lashanna called and said she would meet you there,” he said, and then he abruptly walked away.

Irritated, Ashta shut the door, and Roman started coughing and struggling to breathe again. Quickly, she walked over to him and sat on the bed next to him. As tears pooled in her eyes, she ran her fingers through his damp hair. The tears rolled down her cheeks, and he looked at her.

“You are the best thing that has ever happened to me,” he said uneasily, and she sniffed as she nodded.

“You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, Roman,” she said as she watched him struggle to breathe.

Sadly, his face was rapidly losing color, and he began to struggle even harder to breathe. Sorrowfully, Ray held Riah as she started to sob, and he also had tears streaming down his face as he tried to hold his composer.

He felt like he needed to be the strong one for the girls and his cousin. Desperately, Roman tried to speak, but Ashta shushed him gently.

“Shsh. Roman, don’t try to speak. You need to save your air. Just focus on breathing,” she said softly, and Roman reached his hand to her face as he looked at her.

Lamentably, she held his hand to her face, and she leaned over as she kissed his forehead.

“I love you, and I know you will always be with me,” she said as she pulled her head back and looked at him with loss in her eyes.

Riah quietly sobbed as Ray held her tightly against his chest.

“I love you, fam,” he sobbed, but Roman focused on Ashta’s face.

Roman held Ashta’s gaze, and after a moment, he stopped struggling, and Ashta searched his eyes.

“I love you,” he whispered, and then his hand slipped slowly from Ashta’s face and landed on the bed.

“No,” she cried as he looked at his still face.

“No,” cried Ray and Riah’s chest heaved as she did her best to hold onto Ray.

Sadly, Ashta looked at Riah and Ray, and she shook her head in disbelief. Riah looked at her with sorrow and gave her a knowing look. Ashta shook her head, and then she looked back at Roman.

Ashta looked at the face of the love of her life for a moment and saw he was gone. Uncontrollably, Ashta began to sob as she laid her head on his chest and gripped his shirt. Ray’s knees went weak, sank to the floor, and Riah went down with him. There was another knock at the door, but Ashta, Riah, and Ray ignored it, and Ashta continued to sob on Roman’s chest.

Slowly, dawn had approached, and Gale, Liam, and Chantelle led Bestol and Mertheis to the Garden of Eternity. After a few moments, a bright star shot down from the sky, and the Goddess of Fire appeared before them. Without a word, Gale stepped onto the elemental rock and closed his eyes.

Respectfully, Gale, Liam, and Chantelle bowed their heads to her, and she smiled and bowed her head back to them. Knowing, the goddess smiled at the king, and he looked at her in question.

“I know why you have summoned me, my dear king of Halondelle,” she said in a distorted voice, and Gale sighed as he nodded.

“Where is he? Where is my son?” she asked, and Mertheis walked towards her.

The Goddess of Fire looked toward her dark-haired son, and her heart sank. It was true, her son was alive, and he had come to destroy them all and their world.

“Mother, I have finally found you,” he said in amazement, and Hellena looked at him as she reached her hand out.

“Come with me, son. I can show you the way,” she said, and Mertheis just stared at her as he walked closer to his mother.

“Just take my hand,” she said softly, and slowly, he reached for her hand.

No one had noticed that, with his other hand, he had reached into his jacket pocket and pulled a dagger. Quickly, he stabbed his mother in the abdomen, and she looked at him in horror.

“What makes you think I would go with the woman who abandoned me?” he sneered as he brought his face closer to hers, and she looked at him in shock as she grabbed her midsection.

Quickly, she glanced at Gale, whispered ‘I’m sorry’, and then, with a flash of light, the Goddess of Fire disappeared. Mertheis laughed an evil laugh, and Bestol snickered.

“Come on, brother. This is our way into their realm,” said Bestol, and suddenly, he and Mertheis disappeared.

Nervously, Gale, Liam, and Chantelle looked at each other and headed back to the castle.

Suddenly, Roman sucked in a deep breath of air, and his eyes flew open. Surprisingly, everything around him was pitch black, and he found himself inside a stone encasing.

Where am I? he wondered as he felt the cool stone surrounding him.

Noticeably, the stone felt thinner in some spots, and Roman wondered if he could break through the rock, but what was on the other side? He let his thoughts roll around in his head for a moment, and he decided he would rather deal with whatever might be on the other side than stay inside the stone prison. He took a deep breath, and then he pulled his fist back.

Forcefully, he growled as he punched his fist through the stone, and he felt the outside air rush inside. He took a deep breath of fresh air and punched his way through the stone statue. Roman brushed himself off as he looked around, and at that moment, he felt a powerful surge of energy course through his body. Curiously, he looked around and saw that he was back home.

He couldn’t believe his eyes, and then he noticed the other three statues standing next to him. Surprised, he looked at the statues of Ashta, Riah, and Ray, and he saw that he had a statue too, which was what he had broken out. Heavily, he sighed as he looked up at the sky. Oddly, he noticed the dark clouds, and he saw a couple of flashes of blue lightning in them.

Quickly, he super-sped to the castle, and he saw the guards standing at the door as he ran through them. Surprisingly, he knew that they were demons, and he was thankful that they didn’t see him as he sped by and into the castle.

Cautiously, he went into the throne room, and he gasped when he saw his mother standing with Gale and Liam, and Chantelle stared at him with wide eyes.

“Roman, is it really you?” she asked, as her voice cracked and tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Mom.”

It was all he could say as his voice cracked, and he ran to her.

“Oh, my boy,” she cried as they embraced, and Gale and Liam stared at them in shock.

“Where are Ashta and the others?” Gale asked, and Roman looked at him as he let go of his mother.

“I don’t know. I don’t even know how I was able to make it back,” he said, and Gale, Liam, and Chantelle looked at him in question.

“Back from where? Where have you been?” Chantelle asked, and Roman looked at her.

He was glad to see that there was life in all of their eyes and that they were acting normally.

“We have been stuck in this strange world. Everyone who had died was there. Yinlin, Riah’s family, even….”

Suddenly, Roman trailed off as he huffed a sob, and Chantelle looked at her son’s sad face.

“Your father,” she whispered, and he nodded.

Chantelle looked at Roman with care, and he looked at her as a tear rolled down his cheek. Even though his father was a dead-eyed demon, it still looked and sounded like his dad, making him miss him even more. Sadly, he sighed, and Chantelle placed a gentle hand on his arm.

“I am so sorry,” she said, and Roman sniffed back his tears as he nodded again.

“We are too, son,” said Liam, and Roman looked up at them as Gale nodded.

Roman nodded, and Chantelle pulled her hand back.

“So, how did you come back, and the others didn’t?” asked Gale, and Roman thought for a moment.

“I’m not sure. I remember one minute I was fine, laughing with Ashta, Riah, and Ray, and then the next minute I felt like something was suffocating me, and then I woke up in the statue,” he said, and Chantelle looked at him thoughtfully.

“Did you die in that realm?” she asked, and he looked at her oddly.

“Yeah, I think I did,” he noted, and his mother looked at Gale and Liam.

“We have to get a message to them somehow. The only way they are going to come back home is if they die,” she said, and Gale nodded.

Confused, Roman looked at his mother, the king, and Liam. He didn’t understand what his mother had just said. Did she say they all had to die to come back home? Why would they have to die? His thoughts rolled around his head for a moment, and then he looked at the three of them.

“Wait, what is going on?” he asked, and Chantelle looked at him with worry.

“Halondelle is under a new threat. A man named Mertheis and his friend, Bestol, have bewitched the whole kingdom, and they have gone after the gods in the Spirit Realm. Bestol showed up while we were having the celebration, and that is when you four had disappeared,” she explained, and Roman nodded.

“Okay, then, we will try everything we can to get a message to them,” he said, and Gale and Liam nodded.

Nervously, Gale, Liam, and Chantelle looked at each other, and Roman looked at them in question.

“What are you not telling me?” he asked, and Chantelle heavily sighed.

“Bestol is Ashta’s brother,” she said, and Roman looked at her in shock.

“What? Ash has a brother, and you never told her?” exclaimed Roman.

Gale heavily sighed and straightened.

“Listen, son. We thought he had been dead this whole time. Before Jerico was with Ashta’s mother, he was with a fire demon. When they found out that she was pregnant, she left, and we never saw or heard from her again,” explained Gale, and Roman looked at the three of them for a moment.

“So you mean to tell me that a half-demon and half-Selvempt is running around, and it’s Ashta’s brother?” he asked, and his mother nodded.

“Did you even go look for him?” he asked, and Gale and Liam sadly shook their heads.

Roman heavily sighed as he looked at the king, the king’s brother, and his mother, and then he nodded. He didn’t know what to say about Ashta having some distant brother that had a thirst for destroying the realms.

“Alright. We can figure all that out later. Right now, we need to focus all of our energy and get a message to Ashta, Riah, and Ray, or at least one of them. They need to know how to get home,” said Roman, and Gale, Liam, and Chantelle nodded.

“Okay, where do we start?” asked Liam, and Roman looked at him thoughtfully.

“While I was in that strange, creepy place, someone was sending us messages,” said Roman, and Gale looked at him oddly.

“What do you mean?” he asked, and Roman sighed.

“Like, I don’t know how it happened. The wind would pick up, and then little voices said I needed to find the others. The dirt would grow fresh fruits and vegetables so that I wouldn’t starve. It was like the realm was taking care of me,” he said, and Chantelle smiled at him as she placed her hand on his cheek.

“That is because you and the others are the four Elemental Guardians,” she said happily, and Roman looked at her with a confused look on his face.

“The what?”

At that moment, Gale, Liam, and Chantelle looked at each other shocked, and then Chantelle looked back at her son.