Seal of the King (51 page)

“Are you referring to the end times?”

“Yes and no.” Asis said, “No one knows when those days will come. Only our Father knows that. But before they do come, the Dark One must rise to his full power so that all his servants will be revealed. Then the chaff can be separated from the wheat.”

“Are you saying he
’s more powerful than before, and will rise-up here?” Aurora asked.

“No
, he is constrained here just as he was in Tartaros, and must be freed. Once he is released from the form that binds him, he will begin preparing for the final battle. Until then, he will work to poison this world as he did the other, corrupting as many as he can in advance of his return. He knows that if not for the final battle even the elect would fall. He will try to avert the prophecy by claiming everyone first.”

“Does that mean that we have to destroy him again?” David asked.

“Yes, but it will not be as easy as it was before.”

“That was easy?” Aurora said
, half to herself. David put a comforting hand on her, and she looked up at him, and said, “You almost died” Her eyes bright.

“Almost
, but I had you to save me remember?” David said with a reassuring smile. She nodded a little but said nothing.

“
The difficulties lie along a different path than before. This world is more corrupt, and he has been sowing the seeds for his arrival for a long time. He will not directly control an army as he did before, not that you should underestimate how dangerous he is; he will use others already in positions of power to do his bidding. He will seek to attract followers with false promises, and prey on their fears and vanity.”

“Then what do we need to do to defeat him?” David asked
, resigning himself to the fact that they had known this was coming and fighting it would only waste precious time.

“You must expose him for what he is
, and reveal his true identity. Be warned though, in doing that he will become enraged, and you will be in considerable danger.”

“I tricked him the first time
, but I would imagine he will not be so easily fooled again.” David said thinking out loud.

“He will not be easily fooled
, but his arrogance knows no boundaries, and you must use that against him.”

“Pride comes before a fall.” David said absentmindedly “What are you suggesting?”

“He will believe that you cannot defeat him again, and he will be prepared against any direct attack such as the daggers you used last time. You are going to have to travel to Aurora’s home, and retrieve something that will help you.“

“What is it?”  Aurora asked.

“I don’t know; you will have to find that out for yourselves. I do know that when he fell from grace he roamed those lands until he was banished to Tartaros. You need to learn about his time before his exile, to find what you need.”

"We'll probably need to travel to the temple,"
Aurora said, “That’s where I obtained the scroll about the prophecy. The priests there are wise and have scrolls thousands of years old. It was an extremely difficult and dangerous journey. I had to travel through territory controlled by his army. That was when I saw your mother.”

“I remember
, you told me about it. With any luck, the tide of the battle has turned since we left.”

“There is still a formidable army of evil corrupt men
, and you will be best served if you seek help from those you liberated.”

"I guess we're going to Roktah,"
David said to Aurora, “it wasn’t part of my honeymoon plans, but as long as we’re together.”

"As long as we're together,"
Aurora said with a smile.

David took her hand
and gently kissed it, his love for her welled up inside him. She reached out and tenderly placed a hand on the side of his face looking into his eyes. Without question, she would be by his side no matter what happened, without complaint, and suddenly it didn’t matter where they were going or what they had to do. His doubts fell away. The gift they had been given was so precious to him that this burden was a small price to pay.

Asis, looking pleased
said, “You have a unique bond, and it protects both of you. Through your union, your bond has been strengthened, and David’s gift of anonymity has been passed to you Aurora, just as your gift of healing has passed to him. Therefore, the Dark One will not know where you have gone, so you must be extremely cautious when revealing your intentions.”

“I understand” David said turning back to Asis “I presume we need to leave right away?”

“You should return home, and make your preparations. Although I said you could not simply use the daggers alone to defeat him, you would be wise to keep them with you.” Asis said, “You face a long journey, and must be ready for anything. You will have much work to do along the way. You have another advantage in that his attention is on this world. He disregards the other world, underestimating the importance of his loss there.”

“What kind of work are you referring to?” Aurora asked
.

“The people there must be united
, and restore the balance, destroying his armies, and sending his minions back to where they belong.”

“That sounds
as if it will take some time. What will happen here while we’re gone?” David asked.

“He will begin gathering supporters
, corrupting as many as he can.” Asis said, “He will not take any overt action until he has established a large enough following to overwhelm any that oppose him.”

“In order to defeat him we have to go
, but we need to do whatever it is we have to do as quickly as we can so that he doesn’t get too powerful while we’re gone.”

“That is right.”

“What do you think?” David asked Aurora.

“It will take us at least 3 weeks to travel to the temple
, and if we arrive where we did before we have another week to get to Roktah. Travel is much slower in my world than it is here. I can’t imagine we’ll make it back in less than 2 months. It may take even longer, depending on what we find out,” she said as if she was planning another in a long line of missions.

“I was thinking the same thing. Do we have that much time?”

“Your journey will take as long as it takes. The question is, what will you come back to, and that I cannot answer. I do not know how quickly or what he will do while you are gone, but every day he will grow stronger. I would suggest that you must be sure you have accomplished what you need to before you return. If you are unprepared when you face him you will fail.”

“Like I said, do it
, and do it quickly.” David said, “Aurora do you have any thoughts?”

“I don’t think it will be hard to rally our supporters
. The cities that were trying to remain neutral should fall in line with us too. Since his defeat, they will want to be on the winning side. When we left there was still a massive force to the south of Roktah. Defeating them will be no small task. We should have the advantage that they will be in disarray without leadership. Then there is the matter of our journey to the temple. We’ll need to be well supplied, but I think I can arrange it. We may need a small team of trusted men to accompany us.” She said, and David could see her mind running through the calculations. He smiled at her unintentionally, “What, did I say something wrong?” She added looking fiercely ready to defend her position.

“Not at all, I was just thinking how fortunate I am that we’re going together. I couldn’t do it without you.” David said proudly.

Aurora smiled and said, “And don’t you forget it.”

“Not on my life
.” Then David asked “Is there anything else you can tell us that will help Asis?”

“I
will tell you two things. I see why you have found such favor from the Lord. You follow him faithfully without question, and because of that he will be with you always. Remember that even in your darkest hour.  As you know, the Dark One’s skill for fostering distrust and betrayal are unmatched. He will seek to prey on what you fear most, and try to fill your thoughts with lies. It will be the strength of your bond, your love for each other that will protect you from his deceptions.”

“I trust David with my life
, and my heart without question.”

“I have no doubts child
, I only warn you so you can be prepared. And now it is time for me to depart your company.” Asis said then stood. David and Aurora stood as well, and he reached out and placed a hand on each of them “May the Lord’s blessings be on you both. Should you return to this place, and the Lord is willing, I will come to you.”

“Thank you, Asis” David said
.

"Till we meet again,"
Asis said as he turned, and headed towards the beam of sunlight that was breaking through the treetops. As he walked into it he became extremely bright again, and as he moved closer the light became almost blinding, and then he was gone.

David
and Aurora reached for each other’s hands and stood quietly for a moment. Then turning to face one another they came together in a comforting embrace. David gently stroking the back of Aurora’s head said, “At least we got a few ordinary days together.”

“
No.
”

“What do you mean?”

“They were extraordinary, and the happiest days of my life.” She said nuzzling her head against him.

“When this is over we’ll pick up where we left off.”

“Do you promise?”

“Yes I promise.”
He said softly. “I’m sorry we didn’t have more time. I’m sorry we don’t have a normal life.”

“I’m sorry too
. I’ve never been happier since the day we met. But I know, neither of us would be satisfied sitting by while so many others suffered. And that is one of the reasons I love you.” She said.

They stood quietly for a while holding each other
and holding onto the moment. They both knew that as soon as it was over they would start a new journey filled with uncertainty, and they were savoring their last fleeting moments of peace.

Finally
, David said, “We should probably start heading back.”

“I know” Aurora said without moving
.

“We can get back to the lodge for dinner, stay there tonight
, and head back in the morning. If that’s all right with you?”

"I'd like that,"
she said as she relaxed her hold, and leaned back.

David kissed her tenderly then looked at her
, and said, “hmm we had better get going. Otherwise, we might end up here all night.”

“I wouldn’t mind that
, but you’re right, we should get going.” Then they cleaned up the remnants of their lunch, put everything away in their packs leaving the area as if they had never been there.

With their gear stowed
, and their packs on their backs, they took one more look at the sanctuary they were leaving, and David turned to Aurora, and said, “We’ll come back someday, but in the meantime as long as we’re together I’m happy.”

“As long as we’re together” Aurora said with a smile
, and they set off without looking back.

On the hike down they replayed their conversation with Asis over
and over, trying to think through what it all meant. Ultimately they came to the conclusion that they actually had no idea what to think, and that they would have to wait and see what they found when they got to Roktah. They finally reached the path that led to the meadow behind the lodge, and when they came out in the open, it was a welcome sight. They were both tired now after such a long hike there and back.

“Would you like to eat before we head upstairs or do you want a late dinner
and dancing?”

With a chuckle
, she said, “I think if we go dancing you’ll have to carry me upstairs. Why don’t we have dinner first? I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry. That was a quite a workout.”

“I was hoping you’d
say that.” David said, and then he stopped abruptly.

“What is it?”
She asked.

“Something seems wrong.”
He said quietly. Looking, as if he was trying to reach out for something that wasn’t there, he added urgently
,
“Let’s get inside.”

They quickly made their way down the path
, and the closer they got to The Lodge the more apprehensive he felt. David pushed open the front doors of the lodge, staying a step ahead of Aurora, prepared to shield her from anything unexpected. Stepping inside the lobby he quickly scanned the room, seeing there was no one else there except Charlie behind the counter. He began removing his backpack. Aurora followed his lead taking hers off too.

“Charlie, how are you tonight? Would you mind if we leave our packs here with you while we go to the dining hall?”

“No problem, sir.” Charlie said as David was already making his way to the dining hall. David patted his belt to feel he was still armed not knowing what to expect. He pulled the door open trying to act as normal as possible, hoping not to draw any extra attention to himself. As the two of them walked towards the podium, David was rapidly cataloging the various groups in the room. It was early, so the full dinner crowd hadn’t arrived yet, and he was thankful for that. Nothing jumped out at him, but his senses were on full alert.