Between Darkness and Light Trilogy Read Free

anything bad had happened
to you, and you know I've always been able to sense your distress.
Zah-Ha'Gor almost pushed me toward the monolith. Then you scared me
again when you weren’t inside… but it seemed a good bet that you
had given yet another drop of your blood to the second monolith. I
tried to get back out to tell Puff I’d be following you further,
but I couldn’t get the doorway to reopen. Honestly, Sis, one of
these days this impulsive nature of yours is going to get you into
serious trouble.”
    How could he have done all that, I just got
here. Before I can ask him I hear heavy, running footsteps. Several
men burst into sight, holding what may be weapons pointed directly
at us.
    A deep, authoritative but not very pleasant
voice calls out, “You there – I don’t recognize you… identify
yourselves!” A guard? There is a flash nearby, like thousands of
prisms simultaneously casting light next to me for the slightest
moment, then I sense… greatness, aeon’s of wisdom. My vision clears
and I see an old woman. William tears his eyes away from the light
to stare with almost equal fascination at her. Physically she is
just a very old woman, shriveled and stooped with age, but her
eyes! Looking into them is like looking into the depths of
time.
    “Stand down, Captain, I will take
responsibility for these two – I’ve been expecting them!”
    The guards look at once shocked, awed, and
quite uncomfortable. “Of course, your… ancientness. Our fault
entirely.” His voice is weak with more than awe, far more.
    The old woman places her arms around us; my
mind floods with music and everything suddenly sparkles. We are
bathed in light, every frequency, infrared through ultraviolet,
separated more precisely than by a prism or spell; I hear …
something new. The balance of frequencies changes; stabilizes.
    Yet again we find ourselves in an entirely
different place. We stand before great ornate doors, which begin to
open before us, leading to a throne room filled with very
impressive, very serious looking individuals. They look more like
us! William and I have always been different from our people,
stronger, more powerful, and most notably, we have always seemed
pale compared to nearly everyone else; only the Technologists in
their underground civilization looked as we did. The intensity of
our sun does not allow for light complexions, yet here I see
infinite variety in skin tones. It feels both good and odd. These
people; I had always found William to be the most impressive man
I'd ever seen, being more solidly built than anyone else on Shiral,
and possessing an aura of something I've never understood, but that
always overshadowed everyone else. These people make both William
and I seem like children, not yet fully grown. Where are we?
    I manage to snap my jaw shut before we reach
the front of the hall. The most commanding man I’ve ever seen
frowns down upon us from his throne. His hair is medium blond, only
slightly wavy, and frames a face that, above all else, looks
disapproving. Everything about him is larger and more substantial
than any being I have ever seen; I have to fight to keep my jaw
from dropping once again. He opens his mouth to speak, but with a
note of playful amusement, our escort begins first.
    “Imperial Majesty; I do hope you can forgive
the interruption… I have new family members to introduce!”
    Family?
    Muted gasps and exclamations fill the air;
to say that our arrival is a surprise would be quite the
understatement. “New family?” “They aren’t children, they’re
adults!” “This is madness!” I pay little attention to the
exclamations of those around us as my mind spins – Family???
    The Emperor looks unconvinced, “That seems
rather unlikely, are you certain?”
    Our benefactor pulls herself up straighter
and it seems as though decades drop away from her; I almost edge
away in awe, but she shifts her arm up over my shoulder and
tightens her grip. She sniffs in an