Lor Mandela - Destruction from Twins (48 page)

“Holden?” She jumped to her feet in
surprise. “You’re Holden?”

He grinned ear to ear and stood back up;
suddenly his expression became more serious. “So, what is all this
talk about two Lor Mandelas, and this one being destroyed? And for
Heaven’s sake, Boo, have you finally figured out that sometimes
boring is good?”

“Doc!” she squealed, “Oh good grief!” This
time it was Audril doing the hugging. “That explains it! That’s why
I saw you in the Advantiere room! Of course . . . of course! One
unknowing moves in haste. That was you! You sent us to Earth!”

“What?” he gasped. “Me? I just sent you
there to keep you from getting killed. I . . . I was just trying to
help.” He couldn’t comprehend that he, himself, had played a part
in the Advantiere

“But by doing it, you fulfilled the second
line of the Advantiere,” she exclaimed, giving him another quick
hug.

“Oh my gosh! All this time, you were Doc!
Doc and then Holden?” she chuckled and added, “And you said you’d
never keep secrets from me!”

Glaron smiled and nodded sheepishly. “Well
it wasn’t part of my original plan, but when I wound up on Earth
with you and your dad, I had to figure out some way to keep you
safe. The only thing I could come up with was blocking your
memories and altering all three of us. I thought it would be best
while I was figuring out how to get us back.”

“Whoa, altering?” she gasped feeling all
over her face. “So . . . so then I don’t really look like
this?”

Glaron smiled and tousled her curls, “I
didn’t change you that much, Boo. I couldn’t bear to! You were so
adorable! I just made you look a little older, that’s all. In
retrospect, that probably wasn’t the best idea, since now you’ve
aged like twelve years. I can change you back if you want, but
trust me; you don’t want to alter here! It’s a lot easier to go
through an altering on Earth.” He rubbed his left arm like it was
very sore and added, “Altering on Lor Mandela is an adventure!”

Audril smiled, but then suddenly remembered
that there were more urgent matters at hand. “Listen, Glaron, we’ll
have to talk about this later. Right now we’re running out of time.
Do you know where Tabbit went?”

“Yeah,” he replied, “Lortu told her to get
all of the Squanki together and go find your dad.”

“Lortu? Really,” she gasped. The mysterious
Shadow Dweller was becoming more of a contradiction to her by the
minute. “Whose side is he on, anyway?”

Glaron’s reply was all too familiar. “The
one with the best offer,” he answered.

Audril smiled and shook her head. “Well,
then I guess all we need to do is find Tabbit and my dad. C’mon,
let’s go.”

Glaron’s eyes saddened. “I can’t,” he began.
“I can’t leave Ultara. She needs my help.”

“What? I need your help!” Audril gasped.

“Listen,” he explained, “Just transport to
Mandela Palace. I'll stay here and convince Ultara that you’re
right, and then come and join you.”

“But what if you can’t?” she pleaded.

“I don’t have a choice, Boo,” he argued.
“It’s my duty. Now, get going! I’ll catch up to you in a while. You
should be able to transport once you clear the trees out back.

She grimaced and shrugged. “Transport?”

“Audril,” he began, “Wow! That was weird to
say. You’re a Trysta heiress. All you have to do once you’re
outside get a good run going and shout out where you want to go.
You’ll be transported there instantly.” He grinned and added, “And
you thought you were the Mistress of Mediocre.”

“But,” She looked into the sparkling emerald
green eyes of the person who’d protected her practically all of her
life. “I don’t want to leave you here!”

“You have to, Boodle. Don’t worry; I’ll take
care of the Trystas. You just worry about everyone else.” He walked
to the back of the room and pushed against what seemed to be a tree
trunk. It swung to the side, revealing that it was, in fact, a door
to the outside.

Reluctantly, Audril dragged herself to the
door and gazed pleadingly at him.

Once more, he wrapped his arms around her
shoulders and held her tightly. “Here.” He handed her a tiny black
box. “If you want to stay, there are three of my receptors in
there.”

She opened the box and looked down at the
three minute orange discs. “What reason do I have to go back?” she
asked dropping the receptors into the palm of her hand. “I’m home.
This is where I belong, Doc.” She held her hand and showed Glaron
as the tiny discs absorbed into her skin. “I guess I’m stuck here
now.”

“Be careful,” he grinned, “I care about you
guys! I just want you to be happy.”

As he said the words, she mouthed them along
with him." I will,” she assured. “See you in Mandela City.”

“You bet, Boo!” he smiled.

Audril turned from him and took off in a
sprint. She headed toward a large iron gate that stood at the end
of a massive lawn. It gave her some relief to see dozens of thin
lines of blue hanging in the air in the far off distance. When she
was a few yards away from the gate, she looked skyward and shouted,
“New Mandela Palace!”

A
udril reappeared outside of Mandela Palace on new Lor
Mandela. She ran down the path that meandered from the front steps
to the northern bank of Mystad Lake.

It was staggering how different these two
clone worlds had become. Since she and Kahlie had created it, this
world had revived, thrived and flourished, while it was clear that
the old Lor Mandela had been—and continued to be—in a state of
perpetual deterioration.

Lining the meadows around the lake, hundreds
of people had assembled. Atoc Jonathan stood on a large rock
outcropping addressing the congregation. “The Squanki have opened
portal fields on the East side of Mystad, north of Koria, and in
Westrim. Our generals have been assigned areas to evacuate. I
assure you that they are thoroughly sweeping all of the populated
areas remaining on the other world. We are expecting full
evacuation no later than sundown. I ask that you all remain
patient. You will be reunited with your families shortly!”

“Mag . . . uh, I mean, Audril!” Bridgette
shouted from the meadow closest to where she stood.

Immediately, all eyes shifted from the atoc
and locked onto her. There was a stunned hush throughout the crowd,
but then the area exploded into cheers and applause.

Jonathan leapt down from the rock and ran
around the side of the lake toward her. He rushed up and threw his
arms around her. “I guess I can call off the hunting dogs!” he
chuckled. “I don’t know how you got back here, but I’m so glad you
did!” He hugged her again, and kissed her on the top of her
head.

After the accolades died down, Audril
grabbed Jonathan by the arm, and pulled him back toward the palace.
She wanted to make sure they were out of earshot of any of the
Mandelans.

“Dad,” she began, “we’ve got a major
problem. How many soldiers do we still have?”

“Soldiers?”

She glanced over as a beaming Kahlie came
running towards them. “How did you get away? We’ve been so worried
about you,” she shouted as she approached. It didn’t take long for
Kahlie to notice the concern on both of their faces. “What is
it?”

“Ryannon . . . He’s bringing his troops to
attack in the morning,” Audril answered.

“Impossible!” Jonathan replied. “How will he
get here? All of the portals will be closed long before morning. He
would need a couple hundred portals at least to get all of his
troops through in any sort of time-effective manner.”

“How many portals have the Squanki created?”
Audril asked weakly.

Jonathan looked to Kahlie for the
answer.

“Just under a thousand,” she reported.

Audril sighed heavily. “Tell the Squanki to
leave them open. This battle has to happen.”

“What? Explain.” Jonathan commanded.

“It’s part of the
Advantiere, Dad. If this battle doesn’t take place, the Advantiere
won’t be fulfilled, and by this time tomorrow,
neither
of the Lor Mandelas will
still exist.”

“Wait . . . are you telling me that I have
less than twelve hours to assemble hundreds of thousands of
soldiers who have not been trained in over a year?” Jonathan was
clearly troubled by the news.

“
We need General Statlen,”
Kahlie interjected. “He’s been working with the troops in your
absence, sir.”

Jonathan looked at her like she was the most
wonderful person in the world. “M’lady, I could kiss you!” Both
Kahlie and Audril blushed. “Find him right away!”

Kahlie cleared her throat nervously, and
then turned and took off running.

Jonathan placed his hand on Audril’s
shoulder. “Don’t worry. It’ll be okay, Angel.”

“But, Dad. There’s something else.”

“What?” he asked.

“The Trystas are all on the old Lor Mandela.
Ultara wouldn’t believe me when I tried to tell her that the world
was coming to an end.”

“You spoke to Ultara? Lortu took you to
Ultara?” he fumed.

She waved him off, and explained what had
happened and how Ultara refused to fight alongside him—and also
about Glaron.

“He altered? But he’s male? I’ve never heard
of a Trysta male having altering abilities,” Jonathan mumbled as he
contemplated the things he’d been told.

Suddenly, General Statlen
came running towards them, followed by Kahlie. “Atoc, we’ve got
company! Your permission to mobilize the troops, sir?
Now!
”

Jonathan trusted Statlen implicitly. If he
was asking to move the troops, there was reason for it. “Granted!
Meet me at the palace in five minutes!” he yelled back. “Kahlie,
what’s going on?”

She took a deep breath and explained.
“Ryannon . . . he found the portal field in Westrim. His armies are
moving through right now!”

Jonathan sprinted back to
the rock platform. “Mandelans,” he boomed over the crowd. "The
Brashnellan army is coming through the portals in Westrim. They’re
coming to attack! Any able-bodied of you are needed to
protect our home!
Those
unable to fight are to get to safety immediately! Soldiers, report
to the palace!”

Immediately, the assembled throng started to
scurry.

Jonathan jumped from the rock and walked
briskly back to Kahlie and Audril. He noticed Bridgette, hurrying a
little boy along toward town and turned toward an elderly man who
was shuffling quickly past him. "You there,” he barked.

The man froze in place. “Yes, Atoc?”

“Go to that young lady over there,” he
commanded, pointing to Bridgette. "Tell her I need her at the
palace and see that the child with her gets safely home.”

“Yes, sir! Right away, Atoc!” The old man
shuffled off to do as he was told.

“Dad, Bridgette!” Audril yelled as he
approached.

“Don’t worry, Angel. I’ve taken care of it.
She’ll be joining us shortly.” He didn’t break stride as he moved
past her and Kahlie. They quickly followed behind him toward the
palace.

“Dad, what about the Trystas?” Audril ran up
alongside him and grabbed his arm. “What about Glaron?” she
pleaded.

He stopped and turned to face her. "Listen,
Sweetie, the Trystas are very clever, and Ultara is a survivor.
They’ll be fine. She’ll work it out somehow. I know it.” His eyes
were not at all convincing. He was concerned, and it showed. He
took a deep breath, gently lifted her hand off of his arm, and then
marched off again.

General Statlen and three other officers—all
in full battle armor—greeted them as they reached the stairs at the
palace entrance.

“Report,” Jonathan commanded as he continued
up the stairs past the general.

“Units one through seven have secured a
perimeter around the palace. Eight through twenty are awaiting
orders, sire. Approximately sixty percent of troops have reported
and messengers have been dispatched to notify the remaining
forty.”

“Impressive, general! Thank you.”

Jonathan stopped at the top of the stairs
and waited as two of the other officers raced to open the door.
“Move eight through twenty to the portal field at the east side of
the lake and tell three through seven to join them there.” He
looked toward one of the officers who had opened the door—a tall,
rugged, battle-scarred, middle-aged man. “Commander, go to the
portals. I need the Squanki, Tabbit. I believe she’s still down
there. Bring her back to the palace. If you can’t find her, just
bring another Squanki . . . go!”

The commander bowed and sped away.

General Statlen remained, staring at
Jonathan in disbelief.

“Yes, General? You have something to say?”
Jonathan pressed.

Audril couldn’t help but marvel at how
quickly he had resumed his role as ruler.

“With due respect, Atoc,” the general began,
“shouldn’t we be moving toward Westrim . . . to stop them? The last
time we were attacked here it was a blood bath.”

“General, there are roughly fifteen million
people on Old Lor Mandela who haven’t come through those portals
yet.” Jonathan hesitated and put his arm around Audril. “The
atoh—who as you know is referred to in the Advantiere as the Child
of Balance—has seen in a vision that the destruction of Old Lor
Mandela is imminent. If my daughter had the power at the last
battle to actually create a planet, I am not going to question her,
and neither should you. When Tabbit arrives, I am going to instruct
her to destroy the portals near Koria. You will send units one and
two to Old Lor Mandela to complete the evacuation. Tell them it
doesn’t have to be neat, just fast! All other units will join us at
the portal field.”

“We’re going to bring millions of people in
through one portal field?” This time it was Kahlie who was
questioning his plan.