Book 2 of the Eternal series

Chapter 20

Suddenly, Chantelle, Liam, Gale, and Chelsea all turned around, and they stared with wide eyes. Roman, Ashta, Riah, and Ray all smiled at them as they walked up, and Gale and Liam looked at Ashta and Riah with tears.

“Oh, my girls,” cried Gale as he ran to them and threw his arms around their shoulders.

Proudly, Chantelle looked at Roman and Ray, walking over to them. Evidently, Ashta and Riah were still covered in the muck from the swamp, and Roman and Ray were also covered in it from holding the girls, but now, Gale and Liam had the stuff on them. Happily, Liam ran over to them and joined in their messy embrace.

She hugged them tightly, and she, too, was covered in the muddy mess.

“What are we all covered in?” asked Gale, pulling back and looking at Ashta and Riah.

“That would be the muck from the swamp. We found them in a puddle of it up to their necks, and we pulled them out,” said Keshmire as she, Andrew, Phabious, Mertel, and Lucian walked up to them.

Liam looked at them with wide eyes.

“The Swamp of Hopelessness?” he asked, and Lucian nodded.

“Yeah. We heard voices, and when we went to go check to see where they were coming from, that’s when we found the girls,” said Andrew.

Phabious and Mertel nodded.

“Well, they are home now, where they belong, and that is all that matters,” said Gale, and Ashta grinned up at her uncle.

“The guardians have returned!” shouted a man that was passing by, and the villagers began to crowd around them.

Happily, they all cheered, and after a few moments, Ashta, Roman, Riah, and Ray went back to the castle with Chantelle, Gale, Liam, and Chelsea.

“Oh, it feels so good to be back in my own clothes,” said Riah, looking down at her black cargo pants and a gray t-shirt.

“It sure does,” agreed Ashta, as she quickly braided her hair down her back.

The bedroom doors opened, and Roman and Ray walked out into the sitting room where the girls were.

“Now that we are all home, I can’t wait to go to the Spirit Realm and destroy those mongrels,” said Riah, smiling at Ray.

“First, we need to find out what exactly it is we are dealing with,” said Roman as he approached Ashta.

“Easy. Two demons that seriously need to be sent permanently back down to the Underworld Realm. What else is there to know?” asked Ashta as she secured the end of her braid with a hair tie.

Roman looked at her with care.

“These demons are not like Maya. They are more powerful and very sneaky,” said Ray, and Riah looked at him.

“Well, maybe the library has some information on them we can use,” suggested Riah, and Roman and Ray looked at each other grimly.

Heavily, Roman sighed as he and Ray looked back at Ashta and Riah, and they shook their heads. Roman walked over to the couch that was in the middle of the room, and he sat down. Ashta looked at him sincerely, and then she walked over to the sofa. Gently, she sat down next to him as she put her hand on his thigh, and he looked at her.

Intrigued, Riah walked over to the couch, and she sat on the opposite side of Roman. Ray followed her, and since there wasn’t any more room on the couch for him to sit down, he took the chair next to the couch and gave his cousin a lost look.

“We have searched the library, and there is nothing about these two or any other demon of the Underworld Realm. I guess no one from our past has ever encountered these creatures before,” explained Roman seriously, and Ashta sighed as she patted his leg.

“We will figure this out,” she said, and Roman only nodded.

Riah thought for a moment, and then she looked up at Roman, Ashta, and Ray.

“Maybe you haven’t looked everywhere,” she said, and they all looked at her in question.

“What do you mean?” Ray asked, and Riah gave him a knowing look.

“Maybe the spirit guardians can give us the information we need, or maybe we can contact one of the gods?” she said, and Roman shook his head.

“The gods have gone into hiding, and Bestol and Mertheis are in their realm,” explained Roman, and Ray sighed.

“And the last time we touched the statues, we couldn’t connect with our spirit guardians,” added Ray.

Slowly, Ashta sighed, and Riah looked at the three of them thoughtfully.

“There is something that you haven’t tried,” she said, and Roman and Ray looked at her oddly.

“And what is that?” Ashta asked, and Riah smiled at her cleverly.

“You haven’t tried to connect with the spirit guardians with all four of us,” she noted, and Roman and Ray looked at each other.

Ray snickered, and Roman chuckled as he looked at the ground.

“You’re right. We haven’t,” chuckled Roman, and Riah looked at him suspiciously.

“What?” he asked.

“You just said that I am right,” said Riah, as she blinked at him a couple of times, and Ray and Ashta chuckled.

“Yeah, I guess I did,” he laughed, and suddenly, Ashta’s belly grumbled.

Immediately, Roman and Ray gave each other a knowing look, and they both snickered.

“Eh, I think our first task is to feed these two poor, hungry girls,” laughed Ray, and Roman nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, we can’t have these two running around on an empty stomach. They get angry when that happens,” said Roman, as he got up from the couch and held out his hand to Ashta.

Ashta and Riah laughed as Ashta took Roman’s hand, and Riah stood up.

“Mom! Are they back yet?” asked Bruce as he, Cellic, Sam, and Simon ran down the stairs and into the throne room.

Chelsea, Chantelle, Gale, and Liam all turned toward the boys, and Chelsea nodded as she smiled at them.

“Really? Where are they?” asked Cellic as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“They are upstairs getting cleaned up. They were covered in muck from the swamp out in the forest. I am sure they will be down soon,” said Chantelle, as she smiled, and Gale and Liam nodded.

“Mom. I’m hungry,” said Sam, and the other three boys nodded.

Happily, Chantelle smiled at the boys, and Chelsea looked at her four boys. Unknowingly, Ashta, Roman, Riah, and Ray had overheard the boys run down into the throne room, and they quietly snuck down the stairs.

“You know, I was thinking the same thing,” said Ashta, and Cellic, Bruce, Sam, and Simon inhaled sharply as they turned around and looked at the doorway.

“Ashta!” Bruce exclaimed, and he ran over to her.

Happily, he threw his arms around her waist, and he nearly knocked her over.

“Careful,” scolded Chelsea.

“Riah!” exclaimed Cellic as he ran over to her and threw his arms around her.

“I’m so glad you are home,” cried Cellic, and Bruce nodded as he looked up at Ashta.

Simon and Sam looked at their brothers, and then they looked at each other as they snickered. Chelsea looked at the two boys and gave them a stern look.

“Boys!” she whispered, and Simon and Sam stopped their snickering and looked up at their mother with apologetic looks on their faces.

She gave them a knowing look, and they both hung their heads in shame.

“Sorry, mama,” said Simon, as he looked back up at his mother, and she only nodded.

“Well, let’s go have something prepared from the kitchen, and we will all shall feast,” said Liam, smiling, and everyone nodded.

“Sounds like a great idea,” said Cellic, looking up at Riah with dreamy eyes.

Quietly, Ashta snickered at Riah, and Riah made a face at her as she stuck her tongue out.

“Can I sit next to you?” asked Bruce as he looked up at Ashta and batted his eyelashes.

“Sure.”

Roman looked at her with sad puppy-dog eyes, and she grinned at him. Bruce saw the look on his face, and he felt bad for the guy.

“Roman can sit on the other side of you, so we can both sit next to you. If that’s okay?” suggested Bruce, as he looked at Roman and then back at Ashta.

Roman was moved by how the little boy reacted, and Ashta looked at him with a look that said her heart had just melted. He smiled at her, and she looked down at Bruce. She nodded as she patted his back and looked at Chelsea. Chelsea pouted her lips, and Ashta grinned at her. She then looked back down at Bruce.

“Thank you. I think that is a splendid idea,” she said, and Roman laughed as he shook his head.

Ray gave Riah and Cellic a hopeful look, and Cellic looked at him as if he was thinking real hard about his decision. After that, Cellic looked up at Ray, and he grinned as he nodded. Gale and Liam laughed, and then Gale clapped his hands together.

“Well, now that that is settled, what are we waiting for?” asked Gale, as he put his arm around Chantelle.

Happily, Liam smiled and nodded as he put his arm around Chelsea’s shoulders. Ashta, Roman, Riah, and Ray looked at them, and Gale and Liam smiled sheepishly.

“Well, we all have so much to talk about,” said Ashta, and her uncle Gale gave her another sheepish grin.

“Yes, apparently we do,” said Riah, and Roman and Ray nodded in agreement.

After a moment of silence, they all made their way down the hall to the kitchen, ordered what they wanted to eat, and then sat in the dining room as they waited for their food.

“Well, who wants to go first?” asked Liam as he folded his hands and put them on the table.

Liam sat next to Chelsea, and then Gale sat next to Chantelle. Next to them, Simon and Sam, and then Cellic, Riah, and Ray sat down next, and then Roman, Ashta, and Bruce were the last to take their places at the table. Everyone was okay with their seating arrangements, and the kitchen staff brought in their food.

Roman gave Gale a serious look, and his eyes flickered to Ashta. Heavily, Gale sighed, and then he looked at Roman as he nodded.

“I think I will go first,” breathed Gale, and then he looked at Ashta seriously.

She looked at him in question, and Roman took her hand in his.

“Listen, kid. There is no easy way to say this, but one of the demons that sent you to the Simulation Realm, well, he is your brother,” he said, and Ashta looked at him with wide eyes.

“Half-brother,” Liam said quickly, and Gale looked at his brother and nodded.

“I have a brother?” she asked in shock, and Gale and Liam nodded.

“How? He is a demon, and I am a half-Selvempt half-Slayer?” she asked, and Gale swallowed.

“Your father had a relationship with a fire demon before he met your mother, and when they found out that she was pregnant, she left Halondelle and your father behind. She escaped back down into the Underworld Realm where the King and Queen at the time couldn’t go after her,” explained Gale, and Ashta looked at him and Liam.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ashta asked as she felt her anger begin to rise, and Roman squeezed her hand to tell her to calm down.

Gale and Liam looked at each other, and Gale swallowed hard as he saw his niece looking at them suspiciously.

“Because we thought he was dead. Besides, Slayers and Selvempts cannot travel to the Underworld Realm. The atmosphere would kill us instantly,” said Liam, and she only nodded.

Chantelle looked over at her with care, and Roman loosened his grip on her hand.

“Ashta, he isn’t a very kind creature,” she said, and Ashta looked at her.

“Your son wasn’t a very nice creature when I met him and when he was given the chance to change, so why can’t we do the same for my brother?” she asked heatedly, and she pulled her hand from Roman’s.

“Because your brother is part fire-demon and part Slayer. He has got demon blood running through his veins, and as for my son, he does not,” Chantelle growled as she threw her napkin down on the table, and Ashta silently looked down at her plate.

She didn’t mean to get so angry at her, she just felt her anger rise, and it took over. She decided to keep that to herself. Roman looked up at his mother, and he scoffed. She looked at him, and he could tell she was still upset.

“Mom. Give her a break. You expect anyone to just be fine and dandy after a bomb like that was dropped on them. This was a very huge bomb, and she needs time to process all of this,” said Roman, and Gale looked at him thoughtfully.

“Son, I’m afraid time isn’t a luxury we have,” he said, and Roman sighed heavily as he looked at Ashta.

“Let’s just change the subject for now,” he said soothingly, and Ashta nodded, but then she quickly looked up at Gale and Liam.

“What is his name?”

“Bestol,” said Liam, and she nodded.

There was an awkward silence between them, and they silently ate a couple of bites of their food. Then Chantelle looked up at Ashta, Roman, Riah, and Ray.

“So, how is it that the curse was broken, and the demons disappeared?” she asked, and Roman and Ray chuckled as they set their forks on the table.

“I guess it happened when the four of us reunited in the swamp,” said Ray, and Ashta, Roman, and Riah nodded.

“It must be because we are the guardians of the realms,” said Roman, leaning back on his chair, and Ashta looked at him as she scoffed.

“You know, you can be so arrogant at times,” she said, and he gave her a conceded smile.

“Well, as you know, it is just the facts,” he said smugly, and Ashta laughed.

Soon, they were all finished eating, and the boys ran off to play. Ashta, Roman, Riah, and Ray thanked Gale, Liam, Chantelle, and Chelsea for having lunch with them, and then they headed down to the sanctuary room.