Recap: Abidel and Beza, Johnny and Cynthia. A man of God and his apprentice, a praise worship leader and his girlfriend. Two very different worlds collide in one epic story. In a bid to end the famine and drought that plague the Edge of Sara, Abidel and Beza journey from High Earth to Low Earth to see the Oracle. Little do they or the people of High and Low Earth know, the Oracle is not true to their Holy Scrolls. He craves domination of both lands and seeks to open a portal to the other world. The world of Johnny and Cynthia. A place called London. Abidel drinks a potion given to him by the Oracle and he starts dreaming through Cynthia’s eyes, and she through his. The first link with the other world. But this is only the first phase of the Oracle’s plan, of which unwittingly, Johnny and Cynthia are pawns. They sleep together on the first date and Cynthia gets pregnant. With this Abidel and Cynthia’s dreams end and the rains fall on the Edge of Sara once more. The Edgeans rejoice but for Cynthia her world is falling apart at the seams. The Oracle tells the High Earthens of the Prophecy of the Chosen One, and when Emperor Melek journeys to the Oracle’s Path with his expecting wife, everything is in place for the Oracle’s great deception. Their baby dies, but the Oracle swaps babies during Cynthia’s childbirth and she is left to think that her baby is stillborn. Abidel and Beza realise the Oracle’s plan but by the time they get to the Path it is too late – the Oracle has simulated the birth, death and resurrection of their saviour to great effect. Now with the Emperor in the Oracle’s pocket, all of High and Low Earth would worship the Seer as a deity. Abidel must journey to the other world and Johnny must go to High Earth if they are to have any chance of returning Cynthia’s baby to her and stopping the abomination that would reek utter desolation to all of High and Low Earth and beyond!
First there was the Oracle, then an Old Prophet and then the Prophecy. Now meet the Detective and the Man of God!
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1.
When Abidel awoke, the first thing he noticed was the lush softness of the bed in which he lay. Johnny's bed. He had not slept on anything so comfortable since before he and Beza were banished from High Earth into the wilderness and even then, he doubted that the royal beddings in the Emperor's palace could match the comfort of the mattress which lay beneath him. He quickly got out of bed and walked into the living room with intent. Though he had not physically been in this apartment, he had appeared to Johnny there in a dream. That made it familiar enough for him to know his way around the place. He was looking for anything that would help him find Cynthia's address. He had to find her and tell her that her baby hadn't really died at birth - he had been taken and replaced by another. He spent thirty minutes rummaging through the living room but found nothing. He did notice a large circular object on one of the side tables. The words "Map Of The World" were inscribed on it and he observed the globe in fascination. Some of the most respected scholars in his world had theorised that their world was perhaps round and not flat, though this had been dismissed by the prevailing school of thought. Perhaps when he returned he would encourage them to reassess their thinking on the matter. If he returned. If Johnny was unable to rescue the child or return himself, then he was stuck in this new world.
After a while, he found what looked like a small pouch on the chest of drawers in the bedroom. In it there were coins that looked like they were made of copper and bronze, surely of much less value than the gold and silver coins they used on High Earth. Then there was some paper, perfect rectangular sheets with the picture of a woman with a crown on one side, clearly a Queen. "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of ten pounds," it read. This paper must have some monetary value, he thought. Another interesting concept, which he would no doubt be returning to High Earth with. Assuming he returned. Eventually, he found a card with a picture of Cynthia in this pouch and on it, a line which said "address". Finally, he had found what he was looking for. He locked the apartment behind him with the keys he found on the chest of drawers and went outside to stop one of the black chariots on the street by raising his hands at them, much like he had seen many people of this world do in his dreams. Armed with the coins and paper from Johnny's purse, they should take him anywhere he wanted to go. At least this is what he hoped.
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2.
When Abidel dismounted the black chariot that had taken him to the address on the card with Cynthia's picture on it, he tried to give its rider the copper and bronze coins he had found in Johnny's pouch as a payment for ride, but the man refused. He did however accept merely two of the paper monies from the purse, and even gave him many more coins in return. "Don't you have any notes in your wallet?" The man had asked him, pointing to the pouch. Odd that the paper would be worth much more than the coins, he thought, as he knocked on Cynthia's front door.
"Yes, may I help you?" she asked, opening the door slightly as she peered round it.
"Well, actually I believe I can help you. Are you Cynthia Robles of Kingdon Street, West Hampstead?"
"Yes, this is she."
"I don't know how to say this, but I have reason to believe that your baby is alive. There was more than meets the eye to your difficult delivery. If I could come in and explain..."
She didn't let him finish. She slammed the door shut, turned both locks, and put the chain over the door. She had suffered a terrible miscarriage only the day before, and was only allowed to leave the hospital this morning only one the condition that her doctor would check up on her round the clock for the next week. Now, a strange man wearing long flowing white robes was at her doorstep, with details of her delivery and claims that the baby hadn't died. As much as she wanted to believe the latter part, she was instinctively wary for her immediate safety. She tried calling Johnny, but his number just rang through.
"Johnny sent me to find you," Abidel shouted from outside, as if on cue. "The baby that died isn't yours, he has gone to find your child and bring him back!"
After a short pause, she shouted back. "Are you a doctor? Were you at the hospital yesterday?"
"No I'm not a doctor, I am a prophet. A man of God. I was not at the hospital but I witnessed your child being taken!"
As she thought, the man was a lunatic. Clearly from some sort of cult. She dialled 999.
"Good afternoon, please state the nature of your emergency."
"I have an intruder who is trying to get into my home. Please get the police over here immediately!"
"Okay calm down ma'am. Putting you through to the police now..."
When she got through to the police, she gave them her address and stayed on the phone with them, explaining the exact nature of the intrusion, and her fears about the surprising amount of detail this man knew about her circumstances.
"Please let me in," the man shouted, "it's imperative that you hear what I have to say!"
"You better leave now!" she shouted back. "The police will be here any minute now and then you'll have to answer to them!"
"I'm not leaving until you listen to what I'm saying!" He sat down and made himself comfortable on the front porch.
No sooner had he sat down did her hear the sound of sirens approaching in the distance. Two of these chariots which he now knew as cars, pulled up in front of the house from different directions and out jumped four men wearing the same uniforms each with some kind of weapon in hand. They began to approach him cautiously. This must be the "police" that she spoke of. Some kind of officers of the law.
"Put your hands where we can see them, and don't make any sudden moves!" Their weapons were pointed directly at him. He did as they asked and put his hands above his head. They approached him quickly, grabbed his hands, put them around his back and locked a pair of metal shackles unto his hands so that he could not move them.
As they led him away, he shouted back towards the house, "You've got to listen to me Cynthia! I know about your dreams, because you dreamt them through my eyes! Johnny is with Beza at this very moment, journeying to High Earth to rescue your child!"
Cynthia opened the front door and stared at the man as the police bundled him into their vehicle, transfixed by the words he had just spoken. Her dreams, the name Beza, another world. Cult or no cult, he was frighteningly accurate about these visions she'd had, just over nine months ago now. She breathed a sigh of relief. At least, now that this strange man was in custody, she was safe, and all her questions about his peculiar appearance at her doorstep would be answered.
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3.
Abidel was taken into a dark room and left seated alone at a desk. There was an empty chair opposite him and a lamp on the desk that only slightly illuminated the room. The room had three walls painted grey, and a fourth wall made of glass. Thick black glass through which he could see nothing. After a few minutes, the door opened again and a tall man wearing a dark brown coat walked in. The man walked towards him slapped some papers unto the table. He placed another object on the table, rectangular in shape and pressed a button on it.
"My name is Detective Carter," the man said as he sat down, "Please could you state your name and where you are from for the record."
"My name is Abidel. I am from the Edge of Sara, the town at the end of High Earth."
"Abidel what? What's your surname? Your family name?"
"I have no other name. I am Abidel of High Earth, servant of the Most High. Abidel will suffice."
"Yes Cynthia mentioned that you said you were a Preacher. ‘Man of God’ I think were your words. Is that how you knew about her miscarriage? You saw it divinely?" His voice smacked of sarcasm.
"In a manner of speaking, yes. I saw it happen, but from my world. Cynthia's baby did not die; it was replaced by a baby that died in my world."
"You've got to be kidding me," Carter remarked. Amused, he stood up and walked towards the glass wall. "Can you believe this guy's story? That he's from some other world and that is how he got the info that he had?" For some odd reason unbeknownst to Abidel, the man was talking to the glass wall.
Suddenly, Carter's countenance changed from one of amusement to one of seriousness. "Listen," he said spinning around and turning to Abidel, "you need to start talking because you're about to get into serious trouble if you don't. Trespassing and harassment are the least of your worries at the moment. Johnny's wallet was found on your person, and he hasn't been seen since yesterday. We've done a sweep of his house and there's no trace of him. No one has heard from him today, so considering that you had his wallet, you're the only person who we know has been in contact with him since yesterday or knows his whereabouts. A missing persons report cannot be filed until 24 hours after they were last seen, so I warn you, if he doesn't show up before that time has elapsed, you will be charged with kidnapping in addition to the other crimes already mentioned!"
"No one seems to be listening to me! I do know where Johnny is. He is on his way to High Earth now to rescue the child from the Oracle!"
Carter paused for a moment and gave him a long hard stare. "Okay, let's try this one more time. Who are you and where are you from?"
This time Abidel was quiet and gave no answer.
"Do you now refuse to speak? Now you listen to me, don't you realise that I have the power to keep you here or let you go? But you need to co-operate if this is going to end well."
"You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. As I told you, I am not of this world. If I was, you would not be able to arrest me or keep me here."
"Would you look at that!" Carter smirked, "now he thinks he is some kind of modern day Jesus Christ!" He was talking to the glass wall again. He turned back to Abidel one last time. "I'm going to leave you here to think about your situation for a while. When I come back I want answers. Real answers!" His voiced echoed as he turned to leave the room and slammed the door behind him.
Abidel was once again left in darkness and quiet solitude. A darkness only slightly illuminated by the small lamp which sat on the table before him.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
The Prophecy and the MOG - Alternate Ending!!!
Hey people! I bring you the alternate ending for the Prophecy and the MOG! In actual fact, this was the original ending for the story, except that it's not actually the ending, it is more like the middle! (It was changed and ended early for publication in Outflow as a trilogy!). Call this alternate ending an interlude if you will, it is simply the prelude to another trilogy of stories for this series! Stay tuned for much much more!
Did you ever wonder what might have happened if the Oracle had succeeded in his plan to swap the babies between the two worlds? Did you ever wonder how his plans to rule over High and Low Earth could possibly be thwarted once he had completed this deception? Did you ever wonder how a rescue attempt could be launched for Cynthia's baby if she truly did (and unwittingly too) lose it to another world?
All and more will be revealed soon...read on and enjoy!!!
The Prophecy and The Man of GOD
The Alternate Ending!!!
5.
Abidel and Beza rode their horses through the plains of the Masai as quickly as they could. They had to reach the Path before it was too late. After a period of forty days and nights in the wilderness dedicated to fasting and prayer, the Oracle's plan had been divinely revealed to Abidel. The Oracle planned to simulate the birth, death and resurrection of the Chosen One in one fell swoop. By stealing a baby from the other world called Earth, he would deceive the people of High and Low Earth to worship him as a deity and thus cause the abomination that would reek utter desolation to the ends of this world, and beyond. If Abidel was right, they only had three days to stop him!
On the third day, the Emperor and his men went to the Oracle's hut to take the baby's body and begin the long procession back home. The Oracle met them at the door, stopping them in their tracks. "Have thou forgotten the Prophecy of the Holy Temple, that it shall be destroyed and built again in three days?"
Ebed-Melek, the head of the Royal Guard and the Emperor's right hand man stepped forward. "Of what consequence is the Holy Temple to the Great Prophecy? Hath thou not proved thyself a false prophet already? I should run my sword through you right now!"
"O thee of little understanding," the Oracle cried as he lifted his hands to the sky and the clouds began to darken and gather above them. "Now thou shalt understand the meaning of the prophecies and see the very power I have to give life!" The Oracle's eyes turned a pupil-less black as lightning flashed across the skies above and a storm engulfed them. The Emperor and his men began to run for cover but the Oracle simply smiled and lowered his hands as if to tell the storm to calm. As suddenly as the heavens had opened above them did the storm suddenly subside. As the clouds began to move away and the skies began to clear, a cry could be heard from inside the Oracle's hut. The cry of a baby!
(This is where it all changes!!!)
The servant of the Oracle ran into the hut, and moments later, came out carrying the baby, alive and kicking! "Look! The child has risen from the beyond!"
There was a riotous cheer from the Emperor and his men. They now understood the meaning of the prophecies - the child was indeed the Chosen One, the Holy Temple that was destroyed and rebuilt in three days! And they had the Oracle to thank for opening their eyes and making all of this possible! Right there, at the Path of the Oracle, they all bowed down and worshipped him. Following this, Emperor Melek asked the Oracle to return to with them to his palace in High Earth to become his personal spiritual advisor. The Oracle accepted the offer with glee. The first phase of his plan had worked like a charm.
_______________
6.
As Abidel and Beza arrived at approached the Path of the Oracle from the plains of the Masai, they could see a long procession readying themselves for the journey back to High Earth. Abidel saw that these people were joyous in song and in the highest of spirits, and it was then that he knew they were too late! From what he could make out, The Emperor rode on the Royal Chariot near the back of the procession, surrounded by the finest warriors of the Royal Guard. And from what he could see, his wife Marah stood by his side cuddling a healthy bouncing baby boy. The boy from the other world, stolen from his real mother who during childbirth unwittingly received, in exchange for her dead baby, the Emperor's baby who had died three days previously. All this to fulfil the Oracle's selfish desires, not the prophecies that he had claimed were being fulfilled. Abidel shook his head in disgust. Righting this wrong and convincing the people of High Earth that they haven't been deceived was not going to be easy.
"What do we do now?" Beza asked despondently, as they peered at the leaving procession from the cool shade of the trees that concealed their presence at the scene.
"We wait."
"We wait? Wait for them to leave? What good can we do here once they tak the baby and return to High Earth?"
"The only good we can do is here. We cannot follow them back to High Earth to take the baby. Even without our banishment, that would be impossible. But now, if we are so much as sighted a rising and falling from High Earth they would take us in chains immediately!"
"So what good can we do here?"
"I have a plan. I believe that the Oracle's hut is the portal to the other world, the place called London. It is the place I saw when I dreamt through the eyes of the woman called Cynthia. Do you remember?"
"Of course I remember, thy dreams began the next rising of the sun after our first visit to the Oracle!"
"Well, I believe that she is the real mother of this baby trapped in our world. The Oracle found a way to bring him here, and I believe that one can travel there in the same way. It may be our only chance of rescuing her baby and saving this world from the Oracle!"
Beza was caught totally off guard by the revelation. "How is this possible? And even if it is, how will this save High Earth from the great deception that has befallen them?"
"We shall know by the rising of the sun if my plan will work. And if it does, here is what we shall do..."
Beza listened intently and his eyes went wide with amazement as Abidel explained this plan in intricate detail. Only a man of faith could believe that such an audacious and bold plan could possibly work. And Abidel was a man of great faith.
_______________
7.
When Johnny woke up in his living room in the middle of the night, he had barely slept a wink. Earlier that day Cynthia has lost their baby during childbirth so understandably he was too distraught to sleep. He got up to fix himself a drink but stopped dead in his tracks before he could get to the kitchen. Right in front of him, where his own kitchen should have been, he saw a charcoal scarred fireplace with a large obtuse black pot sitting underneath it. While he was still trying to make sense of this anomaly, a slim tall man wearing flowing white robes and brown sandals stepped into his line of sight from the corner of this strangely transformed kitchen and stood in front of the fireplace.
Startled, Johnny took a step back, and then the man spoke. "Don't be afraid. My name is Abidel, servant of the Most High. I am from the Edge of Sara, and I'm here to help you."
"Help me with what? What are you doing in my house? What on earth is the Edge of Sara?"
"Well that's exactly it - It's no place you know of on this earth. In my world, it is the town at the end of High Earth. I am the man of God that Cynthia spoke of from her dreams."
Johnny was taken aback at the mention of Cynthia’s other-wordly dreams. They had abruptly ended at the start of her pregnancy, and they now seemed like distant memories. "How do you know about her dreams?"
"Because she was seeing my world through my eyes, and I was seeing your world through hers."
Johnny paused, at a real loss as to how to respond. He was still trying to digest everything this man was telling him. He was sure that any minute now he was going to wake up and have a very interesting dream to talk about.
Abidel continued. "Your baby isn't dead. He was taken by a man called the Oracle and replaced with a baby from my world. I bore witness to this act some distance from where this deception took place, but unfortunately I could not arrive there in time to stop the Oracle."
"What are you talking about? Even if such a thing possible, why should I believe you?"
"The Oracle found a way to link our worlds and stole your baby to simulate the birth, death and resurrection of the Chosen One spoken of in the Holy Scrolls. You must be familiar with the prophecy? I gather that this has already happened in your world, long ago?"
"You mean Jesus Christ? Yes, but I don't know of any Holy Scrolls."
"I think you call them the Bible. Well, the ones that we have are part of what you call the Old Testament."
"How do you know all this?"
"Some things can only come by intense fasting and prayer. I have been in the wilderness forty days and nights. There I discovered what was necessary to appear to you now. Listen, we don't have much time, so I will have to explain to you fully later. Right now, you're the only one who can return your son to your world."
Johnny was having a hard time believing anything this strange man said, but he decided it might be easier to humour him and play along. After all, this was just a dream and he’d be awake any minute now. "How will I be able to do this?"
"You will cross over to High and Low Earth to convince the Emperor to return the child to you. My apprentice Beza will be there to help you every step of the way."
"And where will you be?"
"I'll be here, in your world. It seems that the only way for one to cross over is for someone else to move in the opposite direction. It was how the Oracle took your baby. I will remain here until you return with the baby, it's the only way!"
"Okay...," Johnny hesitated as he looked across the kitchen. It certainly seemed it was from another world. "So how do we do this? Do we just walk across at the same time?"
"No. This is just a dream, but the next time you sleep you will wake up in my world. Beza will be there waiting.”
“I didn’t need you to tell me that this is a dream! That much is already clear to me! The next time I sleep I won’t be waking up anywhere else but my bed!”
Abidel smiled sheepishly. “Don’t worry. In time, you will believe. You should have faith that your baby is still alive. And you will.”
“Perhaps,” Johnny paused, “hopefully I will wake up and find that Cynthia’s miscarriage was all just a bad nightmare?”
“Perhaps,” Abidel responded knowingly. “There is one more thing,” he said as he turned to leave.
"What's that?"
"Make sure you hold on to one or two things from this world. You will need them to convince the Emperor that you are indeed not of High or Low Earth!"
Find out what happens next week, in "The Detective and The Man of GOD"
Did you ever wonder what might have happened if the Oracle had succeeded in his plan to swap the babies between the two worlds? Did you ever wonder how his plans to rule over High and Low Earth could possibly be thwarted once he had completed this deception? Did you ever wonder how a rescue attempt could be launched for Cynthia's baby if she truly did (and unwittingly too) lose it to another world?
All and more will be revealed soon...read on and enjoy!!!
The Prophecy and The Man of GOD
The Alternate Ending!!!
5.
Abidel and Beza rode their horses through the plains of the Masai as quickly as they could. They had to reach the Path before it was too late. After a period of forty days and nights in the wilderness dedicated to fasting and prayer, the Oracle's plan had been divinely revealed to Abidel. The Oracle planned to simulate the birth, death and resurrection of the Chosen One in one fell swoop. By stealing a baby from the other world called Earth, he would deceive the people of High and Low Earth to worship him as a deity and thus cause the abomination that would reek utter desolation to the ends of this world, and beyond. If Abidel was right, they only had three days to stop him!
On the third day, the Emperor and his men went to the Oracle's hut to take the baby's body and begin the long procession back home. The Oracle met them at the door, stopping them in their tracks. "Have thou forgotten the Prophecy of the Holy Temple, that it shall be destroyed and built again in three days?"
Ebed-Melek, the head of the Royal Guard and the Emperor's right hand man stepped forward. "Of what consequence is the Holy Temple to the Great Prophecy? Hath thou not proved thyself a false prophet already? I should run my sword through you right now!"
"O thee of little understanding," the Oracle cried as he lifted his hands to the sky and the clouds began to darken and gather above them. "Now thou shalt understand the meaning of the prophecies and see the very power I have to give life!" The Oracle's eyes turned a pupil-less black as lightning flashed across the skies above and a storm engulfed them. The Emperor and his men began to run for cover but the Oracle simply smiled and lowered his hands as if to tell the storm to calm. As suddenly as the heavens had opened above them did the storm suddenly subside. As the clouds began to move away and the skies began to clear, a cry could be heard from inside the Oracle's hut. The cry of a baby!
(This is where it all changes!!!)
The servant of the Oracle ran into the hut, and moments later, came out carrying the baby, alive and kicking! "Look! The child has risen from the beyond!"
There was a riotous cheer from the Emperor and his men. They now understood the meaning of the prophecies - the child was indeed the Chosen One, the Holy Temple that was destroyed and rebuilt in three days! And they had the Oracle to thank for opening their eyes and making all of this possible! Right there, at the Path of the Oracle, they all bowed down and worshipped him. Following this, Emperor Melek asked the Oracle to return to with them to his palace in High Earth to become his personal spiritual advisor. The Oracle accepted the offer with glee. The first phase of his plan had worked like a charm.
_______________
6.
As Abidel and Beza arrived at approached the Path of the Oracle from the plains of the Masai, they could see a long procession readying themselves for the journey back to High Earth. Abidel saw that these people were joyous in song and in the highest of spirits, and it was then that he knew they were too late! From what he could make out, The Emperor rode on the Royal Chariot near the back of the procession, surrounded by the finest warriors of the Royal Guard. And from what he could see, his wife Marah stood by his side cuddling a healthy bouncing baby boy. The boy from the other world, stolen from his real mother who during childbirth unwittingly received, in exchange for her dead baby, the Emperor's baby who had died three days previously. All this to fulfil the Oracle's selfish desires, not the prophecies that he had claimed were being fulfilled. Abidel shook his head in disgust. Righting this wrong and convincing the people of High Earth that they haven't been deceived was not going to be easy.
"What do we do now?" Beza asked despondently, as they peered at the leaving procession from the cool shade of the trees that concealed their presence at the scene.
"We wait."
"We wait? Wait for them to leave? What good can we do here once they tak the baby and return to High Earth?"
"The only good we can do is here. We cannot follow them back to High Earth to take the baby. Even without our banishment, that would be impossible. But now, if we are so much as sighted a rising and falling from High Earth they would take us in chains immediately!"
"So what good can we do here?"
"I have a plan. I believe that the Oracle's hut is the portal to the other world, the place called London. It is the place I saw when I dreamt through the eyes of the woman called Cynthia. Do you remember?"
"Of course I remember, thy dreams began the next rising of the sun after our first visit to the Oracle!"
"Well, I believe that she is the real mother of this baby trapped in our world. The Oracle found a way to bring him here, and I believe that one can travel there in the same way. It may be our only chance of rescuing her baby and saving this world from the Oracle!"
Beza was caught totally off guard by the revelation. "How is this possible? And even if it is, how will this save High Earth from the great deception that has befallen them?"
"We shall know by the rising of the sun if my plan will work. And if it does, here is what we shall do..."
Beza listened intently and his eyes went wide with amazement as Abidel explained this plan in intricate detail. Only a man of faith could believe that such an audacious and bold plan could possibly work. And Abidel was a man of great faith.
_______________
7.
When Johnny woke up in his living room in the middle of the night, he had barely slept a wink. Earlier that day Cynthia has lost their baby during childbirth so understandably he was too distraught to sleep. He got up to fix himself a drink but stopped dead in his tracks before he could get to the kitchen. Right in front of him, where his own kitchen should have been, he saw a charcoal scarred fireplace with a large obtuse black pot sitting underneath it. While he was still trying to make sense of this anomaly, a slim tall man wearing flowing white robes and brown sandals stepped into his line of sight from the corner of this strangely transformed kitchen and stood in front of the fireplace.
Startled, Johnny took a step back, and then the man spoke. "Don't be afraid. My name is Abidel, servant of the Most High. I am from the Edge of Sara, and I'm here to help you."
"Help me with what? What are you doing in my house? What on earth is the Edge of Sara?"
"Well that's exactly it - It's no place you know of on this earth. In my world, it is the town at the end of High Earth. I am the man of God that Cynthia spoke of from her dreams."
Johnny was taken aback at the mention of Cynthia’s other-wordly dreams. They had abruptly ended at the start of her pregnancy, and they now seemed like distant memories. "How do you know about her dreams?"
"Because she was seeing my world through my eyes, and I was seeing your world through hers."
Johnny paused, at a real loss as to how to respond. He was still trying to digest everything this man was telling him. He was sure that any minute now he was going to wake up and have a very interesting dream to talk about.
Abidel continued. "Your baby isn't dead. He was taken by a man called the Oracle and replaced with a baby from my world. I bore witness to this act some distance from where this deception took place, but unfortunately I could not arrive there in time to stop the Oracle."
"What are you talking about? Even if such a thing possible, why should I believe you?"
"The Oracle found a way to link our worlds and stole your baby to simulate the birth, death and resurrection of the Chosen One spoken of in the Holy Scrolls. You must be familiar with the prophecy? I gather that this has already happened in your world, long ago?"
"You mean Jesus Christ? Yes, but I don't know of any Holy Scrolls."
"I think you call them the Bible. Well, the ones that we have are part of what you call the Old Testament."
"How do you know all this?"
"Some things can only come by intense fasting and prayer. I have been in the wilderness forty days and nights. There I discovered what was necessary to appear to you now. Listen, we don't have much time, so I will have to explain to you fully later. Right now, you're the only one who can return your son to your world."
Johnny was having a hard time believing anything this strange man said, but he decided it might be easier to humour him and play along. After all, this was just a dream and he’d be awake any minute now. "How will I be able to do this?"
"You will cross over to High and Low Earth to convince the Emperor to return the child to you. My apprentice Beza will be there to help you every step of the way."
"And where will you be?"
"I'll be here, in your world. It seems that the only way for one to cross over is for someone else to move in the opposite direction. It was how the Oracle took your baby. I will remain here until you return with the baby, it's the only way!"
"Okay...," Johnny hesitated as he looked across the kitchen. It certainly seemed it was from another world. "So how do we do this? Do we just walk across at the same time?"
"No. This is just a dream, but the next time you sleep you will wake up in my world. Beza will be there waiting.”
“I didn’t need you to tell me that this is a dream! That much is already clear to me! The next time I sleep I won’t be waking up anywhere else but my bed!”
Abidel smiled sheepishly. “Don’t worry. In time, you will believe. You should have faith that your baby is still alive. And you will.”
“Perhaps,” Johnny paused, “hopefully I will wake up and find that Cynthia’s miscarriage was all just a bad nightmare?”
“Perhaps,” Abidel responded knowingly. “There is one more thing,” he said as he turned to leave.
"What's that?"
"Make sure you hold on to one or two things from this world. You will need them to convince the Emperor that you are indeed not of High or Low Earth!"
Find out what happens next week, in "The Detective and The Man of GOD"
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
The Prophecy and The Man of GOD
‘A child shall be born, the son of a King and a young maiden, and he shall rescue all of High and Low Earth from their tribulations. I, the Oracle who watches over all the Earth, must bless the child, for untold evils seek to end its life before it begins. I tell thee truth, the expecting mother must make the journey from High Earth and the child must be born here to ensure its protection and the fulfilment of the prophecies.'
_______________
1.
The Oracle paced back and forth in his hut with intent. Even a man of his short, thin frame didn't need many paces to cross from one end of his humble abode to the other. But not for long, he thought. He would very soon trade this meagre hamlet for the most royal of palaces on High Earth. If only the High Earthens knew what deception he planned to feed them. He would give them their Great Prophecy and in doing so finally get all that he had craved so long for – more power, dominion over High and Low Earth, and ultimately a gateway to the other world. A world where his powers could far surpass anything these puny, primitive people of High and Low Earth could even dream of or imagine.
His plan was already well in motion. Abidel, servant of the Most High, had already returned to the Edge, the town that linked High Earth to the deserts of Sara. He had returned with the prophecy as told to him by the Oracle. Messengers were immediately sent to the Emperor Melek's palace with the news that the time for the Great Prophecy was nigh. The fact that the Oracle had subtly implied that the child would come from High Earth was not lost on Abidel. Even though he thought it strange that the Oracle had included such specifics that weren't in the original prophecy, it did help them narrow down the search. Despite his concerns about the accuracy of the Seer's claims, he’d felt obliged to deliver the message. After all, the Oracle had correctly predicted the end of the drought that had plagued the Edge.
Alas, of all the Lords and Chieftains of High Earth whom the prophecy might have been speaking of, it was the Emperor himself who had taken a young maiden, Marah, as his wife only two lunar cycles ago. She was immediately summoned and once the medicine men verified that she was indeed with child, all the Emperor's advisors and scholars of the Holy Scrolls agreed that this must be the child spoken of in the Great Prophecy. Immediately, the Emperor and his wife began making preparations in earnest for the journey to see the Oracle. As Abidel had feared, suggesting that the Oracle's claims were untrue caused an uproar in the Palace. The Elders of the Emperor's council accused him and Beza, his right-hand man, of blasphemy and banished them to the desert of Sara to live out their days. They had only been spared the death penalty because of Abidel's popularity as a man of God who had performed many great wonders on High Earth. Still, this was more than the Oracle had hoped for. His plan was unravelling nicely.
_______________
2.
The course of Cynthia's life changed forever when she discovered she was pregnant with Johnny's child. They had only started dating when the unthinkable happened, and months later she was still reeling from the consequences of what they had done. She had once been the talk of her church as the most elegant, most God-fearing woman who had graduated with a 1st class and owned her own studio flat. Now she was the talk of the church for very different reasons. The youth she had once taught secretly sniggered at her whenever she walked past them, and many of her peers whom she had considered friends seemed to be making less than subtle efforts to distance themselves from her. Things were not much easier for Johnny, she thought. His family had given him a very hard time since the news broke, particularly because it was unclear how he intended to financially support the child. Even his parents had resented the fact that he had turned down a lucrative R'n'B career to lead praise and worship in the church, and now they were pillorying him for what they had considered a stupid decision on his part. Cynthia was startled back to reality by a knock on the window. It was Johnny. She'd been sitting in her car daydreaming about what might have been. They had come to church for the parenting class they had agreed to attend together. They stepped into the class which had already started and couldn't help but note the disapproving looks from the other parents-to-be at their lateness, or perhaps at their presence altogether.
"Everyone's staring at us," Cynthia whispered to Johnny as they took their seats.
"Don't worry. This is for the best, remember?"
"I suppose so. But it's very awkward, how long do we have to bear this for?"
"Not for long I'm sure, they're just not used to an unmarried couple taking the class. Give them time." He was right, never in the history of their church had an unmarried couple taken this class, and it was certainly ruffling a few feathers. But they both knew that their Pastor had advised them wisely. There was no point compounding one mistake with another that would last a lifetime. They would resist the pressures to get married just because they were having a baby. They only would if they were sure it was God's will. Right now, they were simply focusing on how each of them could be better parents when the baby arrived.
After a few moments she firmly grabbed his hand, and somewhat startled, he returned the squeeze reassuringly. "Don't worry, the baby will soon be here, then we can focus on doing this for real."
"It's not that," she responded in a panic, "I think my water just broke!"
_______________
3.
After the journey from High Earth that took three lunar cycles, The Emperor and his men where nearing the Path of the Oracle when Marah went into labour. They rode at full gallop to meet the Oracle, who was waiting with his assistant to usher the expectant mother into his hut. No one else was allowed to enter during the delivery so the Emperor and his men waited outside pensively, but patiently. A look of anxiety swept across the Emperor's face as Marah's screams only seemed to intensify after she was taken in. Her wailing persisted for another thirty minutes and then suddenly stopped. Ten minutes later, the Oracle's assistant stepped out of the hamlet, holding a blanket with the baby wrapped in it. The Emperor stepped forward to receive the baby but his initial excitement evaporated when he saw the despondent look on look on the servants face.
"Your Highness, cursed am I to bringeth thee this terrible news - the child hath not survived the delivery."
The Emperor's face twisted in anguish as he fell to the ground. He let out a wail that could surely be heard for miles beyond the Path of the Oracle. His Royal Guards rushed to pick him from the ground as he wept bitterly. After a long time, the Emperor finally composed himself, dusted himself down and once again looked the epitome of dignity and nobility. He turned to Ebed-Melek, the General of his Royal Guard. "Set up camp to the west of the Path and we return at first light!"
At this point, the Oracle stepped out of his hut and all eyes fell on him. The Emperor walked straight up to him looked him in the eyes. "Is this thy blessing and protection of the Great Prophecy? It may be better if thou leavest this place. If thou art still here by the rising of the sun, I may return to High Earth with thy head on a platter!"
The Oracle didn't bat an eyelid. He returned the Emperor's stare and responded with an air of confidence that surprised even the Emperor. "At least, thou must remain here three risings and fallings, in accordance with thy customs, to pay respects for the dead. Thou knowest not what wonder thy God might perform if thou abideth in obedience."
Hence, Emperor Melek, his wife Marah and his men remained at the Path of the Oracle three days in observance of the time of mourning before making the return journey to High Earth.
_______________
4.
Cynthia was hauled onto the stretcher when they got to the hospital and Johnny ran along beside her, encouraging her as much as he could. She was pushed straight into the delivery room but Johnny waited outside - they had agreed that this was as far as he would come. Inside the room, the delivery was anything but straightforward. Cynthia had never experienced so much pain in her life. She had a migraine that was so severe that she started suffering hallucinations. She saw flashes of a thunderstorm, lightning and torrential rain. These were very much like her other worldly dreams she'd had just before she got pregnant, but even more intense. One minute, she was lying on the delivery room bed, and the next minute she was in a tropical monsoon, and so the flashes continued. The only constant between the two switching scenarios was the piercing screams, which the midwife no doubt attributed to the normal pangs of childbirth. If this is what childbirth feels like, I might as well die now! Cynthia thought. Then suddenly, the storm calmed and subsided. After two hours of intense pushing and gut wrenching screams, the baby eventually came. But it wasn't crying. It didn't make a sound.
After cutting the umbilical cord, the midwife checked the baby's airways. After clearing the airways, there was still no breathing. She turned to the second nurse present, "Turn on the gas supply, and pass me the mask. And get Doctor Patel in here!"
"Is my baby okay?" Cynthia asked looking at midwife who strapped the mask across the baby's nose and mouth and started pumping oxygen into the boy's airways.
Doctor Patel came in and took over the ventilation process from the midwife. After a few minutes, he moved on to chest compression techniques but there didn’t seem to be any improvement in the baby’s condition.
"Shall we try to administer drugs via an umbilical venous line?" the midwife asked. She knew this was a last resort procedure.
"I'm afraid there's no point in giving him drugs if he isn't breathing adequately!" the doctor responded.
A few minutes later, the Doctor came out of the delivery room to give Johnny the bad news. "I'm sorry, the baby was stillborn. There was nothing we could do for him."
Johnny slumped to the floor distraught as he felt his world crumble around him. And then everything went black.
_______________
5.
Abidel and Beza rode their horses through the plains of the Masai as quickly as they could. They had to reach the Path before it was too late. After a period of forty days and nights in the wilderness dedicated to fasting and prayer, the Oracle's plan had been divinely revealed to Abidel. The Oracle planned to simulate the birth, death and resurrection of the Chosen One in one fell swoop. By stealing a baby from the other world called Earth, he would deceive the people of High and Low Earth to worship him as a deity and thus cause the abomination that would reek utter desolation to the ends of this world, and beyond. If Abidel was right, they only had three days to stop him!
On the third day, the Emperor and his men went to the Oracle's hut to take the baby's body and begin the long procession back home. The Oracle met them at the door, stopping them in their tracks. "Have thou forgotten the Prophecy of the Holy Temple, that it shall be destroyed and built again in three days?"
Ebed-Melek, the head of the Royal Guard and the Emperor's right hand man stepped forward. "Of what consequence is the Holy Temple to the Great Prophecy? Hath thou not proved thyself a false prophet already? I should run my sword through you right now!"
"O thee of little understanding," the Oracle cried as he lifted his hands to the sky and the clouds began to darken and gather above them. "Now thou shalt understand the meaning of the prophecies and see the very power I have to give life!" The Oracle's eyes turned a pupil-less black as lightning flashed across the skies above and a storm engulfed them. The Emperor and his men began to run for cover but the Oracle simply smiled and lowered his hands as if to tell the storm to calm. As suddenly as the heavens had opened above them did the storm suddenly subside. As the clouds began to move away and the skies began to clear, a cry could be heard from inside the Oracle's hut. The cry of a baby!
All of a sudden, another cry could be heard emanating from the Masai plains. A battle cry. Abidel and Beza appeared in the distance at full gallop. As they approached the Path, Abidel raised up his staff, and the clouds darkened again. Lightning rippled through the sky and the sound of thunder deafened the ears of all present. The Oracle's assistant rushed to enter the hut and retrieve the baby, but before he could reach the door, a bolt of lightning struck the hut with such force that he was thrown into the air and landed several metres away, body completely fried! Abidel and Beza did not wait to survey the damage they had caused. They rode on to Low Earth, with the Royal Guard led by Ebed-Melek hot on their heels. The Emperor rushed into the Oracle's hut which was now only half standing. His child lay on the altar inside, miraculously without a single scratch on his body. But to his dismay, the baby was not alive. He threw his cloak over the child and wept bitterly.
_______________
6.
The nurse was about to call the time of death for Cynthia's baby when he suddenly coughed and burst into life, breathing his first breath of fresh air since being delivered, at least in this world. She ran out and met Doctor Patel in the hallway, who had just delivered news that had floored Johnny. She ran towards them screaming "The baby is alive! The baby is alive!" The child's recovery from certain death had been miraculous. Later, tests showed that his heart had been jolted back to life by a charge similar to that from an electrical defibrillation unit, even though no such procedure had been administered. After spending two days on life support and another week in intensive care, the child lived to make a full recovery.
_______________
7.
The Oracle's plan had been thwarted for now, and his hut, the portal to the other world, had been destroyed. However, with the help of an unwitting Emperor now seeking revenge against Abidel for the loss of his child, he would continue his plans to deceive and reek utter desolation to the ends of High and Low Earth. Once he used the Emperor’s armies to conquer Low Earth, nothing would stand in the way of his opening a new portal to Earth and taking hold of that world too! And there were only two that could stop him now. Abidel and Beza. That Man of God and his apprentice.
_______________
1.
The Oracle paced back and forth in his hut with intent. Even a man of his short, thin frame didn't need many paces to cross from one end of his humble abode to the other. But not for long, he thought. He would very soon trade this meagre hamlet for the most royal of palaces on High Earth. If only the High Earthens knew what deception he planned to feed them. He would give them their Great Prophecy and in doing so finally get all that he had craved so long for – more power, dominion over High and Low Earth, and ultimately a gateway to the other world. A world where his powers could far surpass anything these puny, primitive people of High and Low Earth could even dream of or imagine.
His plan was already well in motion. Abidel, servant of the Most High, had already returned to the Edge, the town that linked High Earth to the deserts of Sara. He had returned with the prophecy as told to him by the Oracle. Messengers were immediately sent to the Emperor Melek's palace with the news that the time for the Great Prophecy was nigh. The fact that the Oracle had subtly implied that the child would come from High Earth was not lost on Abidel. Even though he thought it strange that the Oracle had included such specifics that weren't in the original prophecy, it did help them narrow down the search. Despite his concerns about the accuracy of the Seer's claims, he’d felt obliged to deliver the message. After all, the Oracle had correctly predicted the end of the drought that had plagued the Edge.
Alas, of all the Lords and Chieftains of High Earth whom the prophecy might have been speaking of, it was the Emperor himself who had taken a young maiden, Marah, as his wife only two lunar cycles ago. She was immediately summoned and once the medicine men verified that she was indeed with child, all the Emperor's advisors and scholars of the Holy Scrolls agreed that this must be the child spoken of in the Great Prophecy. Immediately, the Emperor and his wife began making preparations in earnest for the journey to see the Oracle. As Abidel had feared, suggesting that the Oracle's claims were untrue caused an uproar in the Palace. The Elders of the Emperor's council accused him and Beza, his right-hand man, of blasphemy and banished them to the desert of Sara to live out their days. They had only been spared the death penalty because of Abidel's popularity as a man of God who had performed many great wonders on High Earth. Still, this was more than the Oracle had hoped for. His plan was unravelling nicely.
_______________
2.
The course of Cynthia's life changed forever when she discovered she was pregnant with Johnny's child. They had only started dating when the unthinkable happened, and months later she was still reeling from the consequences of what they had done. She had once been the talk of her church as the most elegant, most God-fearing woman who had graduated with a 1st class and owned her own studio flat. Now she was the talk of the church for very different reasons. The youth she had once taught secretly sniggered at her whenever she walked past them, and many of her peers whom she had considered friends seemed to be making less than subtle efforts to distance themselves from her. Things were not much easier for Johnny, she thought. His family had given him a very hard time since the news broke, particularly because it was unclear how he intended to financially support the child. Even his parents had resented the fact that he had turned down a lucrative R'n'B career to lead praise and worship in the church, and now they were pillorying him for what they had considered a stupid decision on his part. Cynthia was startled back to reality by a knock on the window. It was Johnny. She'd been sitting in her car daydreaming about what might have been. They had come to church for the parenting class they had agreed to attend together. They stepped into the class which had already started and couldn't help but note the disapproving looks from the other parents-to-be at their lateness, or perhaps at their presence altogether.
"Everyone's staring at us," Cynthia whispered to Johnny as they took their seats.
"Don't worry. This is for the best, remember?"
"I suppose so. But it's very awkward, how long do we have to bear this for?"
"Not for long I'm sure, they're just not used to an unmarried couple taking the class. Give them time." He was right, never in the history of their church had an unmarried couple taken this class, and it was certainly ruffling a few feathers. But they both knew that their Pastor had advised them wisely. There was no point compounding one mistake with another that would last a lifetime. They would resist the pressures to get married just because they were having a baby. They only would if they were sure it was God's will. Right now, they were simply focusing on how each of them could be better parents when the baby arrived.
After a few moments she firmly grabbed his hand, and somewhat startled, he returned the squeeze reassuringly. "Don't worry, the baby will soon be here, then we can focus on doing this for real."
"It's not that," she responded in a panic, "I think my water just broke!"
_______________
3.
After the journey from High Earth that took three lunar cycles, The Emperor and his men where nearing the Path of the Oracle when Marah went into labour. They rode at full gallop to meet the Oracle, who was waiting with his assistant to usher the expectant mother into his hut. No one else was allowed to enter during the delivery so the Emperor and his men waited outside pensively, but patiently. A look of anxiety swept across the Emperor's face as Marah's screams only seemed to intensify after she was taken in. Her wailing persisted for another thirty minutes and then suddenly stopped. Ten minutes later, the Oracle's assistant stepped out of the hamlet, holding a blanket with the baby wrapped in it. The Emperor stepped forward to receive the baby but his initial excitement evaporated when he saw the despondent look on look on the servants face.
"Your Highness, cursed am I to bringeth thee this terrible news - the child hath not survived the delivery."
The Emperor's face twisted in anguish as he fell to the ground. He let out a wail that could surely be heard for miles beyond the Path of the Oracle. His Royal Guards rushed to pick him from the ground as he wept bitterly. After a long time, the Emperor finally composed himself, dusted himself down and once again looked the epitome of dignity and nobility. He turned to Ebed-Melek, the General of his Royal Guard. "Set up camp to the west of the Path and we return at first light!"
At this point, the Oracle stepped out of his hut and all eyes fell on him. The Emperor walked straight up to him looked him in the eyes. "Is this thy blessing and protection of the Great Prophecy? It may be better if thou leavest this place. If thou art still here by the rising of the sun, I may return to High Earth with thy head on a platter!"
The Oracle didn't bat an eyelid. He returned the Emperor's stare and responded with an air of confidence that surprised even the Emperor. "At least, thou must remain here three risings and fallings, in accordance with thy customs, to pay respects for the dead. Thou knowest not what wonder thy God might perform if thou abideth in obedience."
Hence, Emperor Melek, his wife Marah and his men remained at the Path of the Oracle three days in observance of the time of mourning before making the return journey to High Earth.
_______________
4.
Cynthia was hauled onto the stretcher when they got to the hospital and Johnny ran along beside her, encouraging her as much as he could. She was pushed straight into the delivery room but Johnny waited outside - they had agreed that this was as far as he would come. Inside the room, the delivery was anything but straightforward. Cynthia had never experienced so much pain in her life. She had a migraine that was so severe that she started suffering hallucinations. She saw flashes of a thunderstorm, lightning and torrential rain. These were very much like her other worldly dreams she'd had just before she got pregnant, but even more intense. One minute, she was lying on the delivery room bed, and the next minute she was in a tropical monsoon, and so the flashes continued. The only constant between the two switching scenarios was the piercing screams, which the midwife no doubt attributed to the normal pangs of childbirth. If this is what childbirth feels like, I might as well die now! Cynthia thought. Then suddenly, the storm calmed and subsided. After two hours of intense pushing and gut wrenching screams, the baby eventually came. But it wasn't crying. It didn't make a sound.
After cutting the umbilical cord, the midwife checked the baby's airways. After clearing the airways, there was still no breathing. She turned to the second nurse present, "Turn on the gas supply, and pass me the mask. And get Doctor Patel in here!"
"Is my baby okay?" Cynthia asked looking at midwife who strapped the mask across the baby's nose and mouth and started pumping oxygen into the boy's airways.
Doctor Patel came in and took over the ventilation process from the midwife. After a few minutes, he moved on to chest compression techniques but there didn’t seem to be any improvement in the baby’s condition.
"Shall we try to administer drugs via an umbilical venous line?" the midwife asked. She knew this was a last resort procedure.
"I'm afraid there's no point in giving him drugs if he isn't breathing adequately!" the doctor responded.
A few minutes later, the Doctor came out of the delivery room to give Johnny the bad news. "I'm sorry, the baby was stillborn. There was nothing we could do for him."
Johnny slumped to the floor distraught as he felt his world crumble around him. And then everything went black.
_______________
5.
Abidel and Beza rode their horses through the plains of the Masai as quickly as they could. They had to reach the Path before it was too late. After a period of forty days and nights in the wilderness dedicated to fasting and prayer, the Oracle's plan had been divinely revealed to Abidel. The Oracle planned to simulate the birth, death and resurrection of the Chosen One in one fell swoop. By stealing a baby from the other world called Earth, he would deceive the people of High and Low Earth to worship him as a deity and thus cause the abomination that would reek utter desolation to the ends of this world, and beyond. If Abidel was right, they only had three days to stop him!
On the third day, the Emperor and his men went to the Oracle's hut to take the baby's body and begin the long procession back home. The Oracle met them at the door, stopping them in their tracks. "Have thou forgotten the Prophecy of the Holy Temple, that it shall be destroyed and built again in three days?"
Ebed-Melek, the head of the Royal Guard and the Emperor's right hand man stepped forward. "Of what consequence is the Holy Temple to the Great Prophecy? Hath thou not proved thyself a false prophet already? I should run my sword through you right now!"
"O thee of little understanding," the Oracle cried as he lifted his hands to the sky and the clouds began to darken and gather above them. "Now thou shalt understand the meaning of the prophecies and see the very power I have to give life!" The Oracle's eyes turned a pupil-less black as lightning flashed across the skies above and a storm engulfed them. The Emperor and his men began to run for cover but the Oracle simply smiled and lowered his hands as if to tell the storm to calm. As suddenly as the heavens had opened above them did the storm suddenly subside. As the clouds began to move away and the skies began to clear, a cry could be heard from inside the Oracle's hut. The cry of a baby!
All of a sudden, another cry could be heard emanating from the Masai plains. A battle cry. Abidel and Beza appeared in the distance at full gallop. As they approached the Path, Abidel raised up his staff, and the clouds darkened again. Lightning rippled through the sky and the sound of thunder deafened the ears of all present. The Oracle's assistant rushed to enter the hut and retrieve the baby, but before he could reach the door, a bolt of lightning struck the hut with such force that he was thrown into the air and landed several metres away, body completely fried! Abidel and Beza did not wait to survey the damage they had caused. They rode on to Low Earth, with the Royal Guard led by Ebed-Melek hot on their heels. The Emperor rushed into the Oracle's hut which was now only half standing. His child lay on the altar inside, miraculously without a single scratch on his body. But to his dismay, the baby was not alive. He threw his cloak over the child and wept bitterly.
_______________
6.
The nurse was about to call the time of death for Cynthia's baby when he suddenly coughed and burst into life, breathing his first breath of fresh air since being delivered, at least in this world. She ran out and met Doctor Patel in the hallway, who had just delivered news that had floored Johnny. She ran towards them screaming "The baby is alive! The baby is alive!" The child's recovery from certain death had been miraculous. Later, tests showed that his heart had been jolted back to life by a charge similar to that from an electrical defibrillation unit, even though no such procedure had been administered. After spending two days on life support and another week in intensive care, the child lived to make a full recovery.
_______________
7.
The Oracle's plan had been thwarted for now, and his hut, the portal to the other world, had been destroyed. However, with the help of an unwitting Emperor now seeking revenge against Abidel for the loss of his child, he would continue his plans to deceive and reek utter desolation to the ends of High and Low Earth. Once he used the Emperor’s armies to conquer Low Earth, nothing would stand in the way of his opening a new portal to Earth and taking hold of that world too! And there were only two that could stop him now. Abidel and Beza. That Man of God and his apprentice.
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