Ancient Mystic's War of the Realms Saga - Lady Adellandra Dratianos (best detective novels of all time TXT) 📗

the Ghost-Child.”
Gloriana was confused. “Who is this Ghost-Child?”
“She is the one Albrath found in the Forbidden Zone.” Sabrina answered. “The Grand Magus sent her here to search for her lost parents. The Warriors tell me the child reeks of Lord Maximaniac.”
“Aye, I do recall him taking in a bastard child.” Gloriana remarked. “Eyes as red as blood, skin white as a sheet and colder than the coldest winter.” She turned to D’Kora. “Bring her to me. She may be of some use to us.”
“Where is she now?” Sabrina asked D’Kora. “This Ghost-Child.”
“In the Dungeon, as ordered by the Master, my Maiden.” D’Kora supplied. “Young Guardian’s twin searches for her as well.”
“The Grand Magus is here?” Gloriana was confused. “Who was she Exiled by?”
D’Kora shrugged. “I could not tell you, my Queen.” The troll-like maidservant supplied. “She is led by Sarnov, the River Rat.”
“That vile creature still exists?” Damian butt in. He grinned, coming up with a plan of his own. “Brilliant. I must greet them formally.”
With that, and a killer smile, he disappeared. D’Kora could only smile after him, returning to her post. Sabrina was left laughing, cooking up a devilish plan of her own.
Story #4:
A Test of Power, Part One

When Shane woke up, he noticed his wife was gone. He went about his day, taking the kids across the street to Aimee’s when he realized she wasn’t coming back for awhile. He vaguely heard the various greetings as he walked in the Police Station that morning. Derrick had driven both of them, as he sometimes did, and even he didn’t know what to make of things.
All through the day, he was the one in the daze, wondering where Luna was, and why his Pendant was jumping. He tried using some of its Magic to sense her himself, but he quickly found out she was nowhere around. The Shadow and the Protector were confused as to what happened to Luna. They were both certain something actually did happen, but they didn’t know what.
After work, they decided to find out. Derrick and Shane found the one woman who was linked to Luna at all times. Ariana was in Kelly’s room, cradling the teenager to her body. Somehow, something happened to Kelly, too. They had worse things to think about.
“Ariana?” Derrick was instinctively at her side, holding her. “It’s okay, Love. I’m here. Tell me what happened.”
“Djinn.” Was her whispered reply.
The boys looked at each other.
“Luna?” Shane asked Derrick.
Derrick shrugged, turning to his wife when she gasped. “Luna’s missing.”
Ariana nodded. “I know. I was visiting Lord Max when I got her mind-call. It was the same time I felt Kelly drifting away from me.” She told them. “Orthos sent the Djinn to get my daughter, and I felt it.”
She sobbed in his embrace. By now, she’d released Kelly’s limp body.
Shane felt his Locket-Pendant, eyes trained in using its particular magic. All around the child he saw a whisper of a white-black aura. It was as if she were gone somewhere, yet her body was there. “Invisibite?” He whispered under his breath. “She made herself an Invisibite?”
“Impossible.” Derrick said.
“You don’t know us Ancient Mystics, do you?” Ariana asked. “She learned how to separate the Magical and the Spiritual sides of herself. She did it to escape the Djinn.”
“What about Lu?” Derrick asked. “Can you sense her anywhere?”
“She’s in the Unknown.” Ariana told them matter-of-factually.
“How did she get there?”
“The Gatekeeper, how else?”
“Can you sense Kelly?” Shane asked.
“There’s nothing but a senseless Djinn in her body.” Ariana looked to Kelly’s quiet shell. “It called itself a Mind-dweller.”
“Is that anything like the Dweller you told me about?”
“You’re talking of two different species of beings.” Ariana remarked. “A Mind-dweller is an almost-powerless, if not useless breed of Djinn. Their main goal is to use and confuse Dreamers, making them think they’re going crazy when they’re not.”
“Like what happened to Jake and I?”
“Exactly.” Ariana nodded. “The Dwellers I told you about were like modern-day vampires. They’re hunters in their own right, waking in the night to hunt their turned kin.”
“Back to Luna.” Shane was astonished at the amount of information she’d learned in such a short time. “Can you tell us where in the Unknown she is?”
Ariana shook her head. “She did tell me how she got there, though. Lord Max sent her.”
“Why?” Shane was slowly turning into his own hunter-persona, the Shadow.
“To retrieve Tempest.”
“Who Exiled Tempest?” Derrick was confused.
“Luna, but she didn’t know what she was doing.” Ariana remarked.
“Oh, Luna always knows what she’s doing.” Shane was now completely pissed. His eyes were now dark with anger. “I’m sure your sister had a very good explanation for sending Tempest to the Unknown.”
Knock it off, Shadow. Concentrate. He heard Ariana’s leader voice in his head. It calmed him for the moment.
One look into her eyes brought Shane back to life. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” Ariana smiled. “We’ve got to rescue her, only we have to get Kelly back, too. Before it’s too late.”
Shane studied her, and so did Derrick.
“You feel bad about the Binding Spell, don’t you?”
“Binding Spell?” Shane was confused.
“We thought Kelly played a prank on Juliet.” Ariana said, looking back at Kelly’s body. “I bound her to me until I felt she’d learned her lesson.”
“No wonder you felt her so strongly.” Derrick admonished. “We’ve got to do something. We can’t just sit here and weep over our losses.”
There was something Shane hadn’t heard in a long time. Derrick was finally taking charge when his love-of-a-wife couldn’t. He didn’t realize he was staring at his brother-in-law until Derrick himself said something.
“What?”
Shane shook his head. “Nothing. I’ve got an idea.” Ariana and Derrick waited for him. He smiled. “We go and fetch her.”
“Luna?” Ariana asked. “What about my daughter?”
“We don’t even know where Kelly took herself.” Derrick said.
“There’s only one place for the Spiritual side of Invisibites to go.” Ariana supplied. “The Abyss.”
There was a tone in her voice neither gentleman liked to hear. They knew she has always hated the Abyss, and the only being who inhibited it, the Gatekeeper. Her voice was angry, yet determined.
“I don’t care if the Gatekeeper has her locked in some tomb in the hidden alcoves, I will get my daughter back.” Ariana was determined.
“Need I remind you of our new son?” Derrick asked. “What about him, and the other children? And your own niece and nephews?”
“Yeah, Ariana. Where will they go while we’re rescuing Luna and Kelly?” Shane asked.
“Easy. We leave them to Juliet and Aimee.” Ariana supplied. “After all, that’s why I hired Juliet in the first place. To be there for our children when Derrick and myself can’t.”
“You actually trust her, Love?” Derrick asked. “She wasn’t exactly the most responsible teenager in the Academy you know.”
“She’s still Mark’s sister.” Ariana argued, glaring at him. “Besides, Amethyst will be there if anything should happen.”
“Amethyst?” Shane asked. “Since when do we call her that?”
“Since now.” Ariana stood. “Where to first?”
“You tell Juliet.” Derrick said. “She likes you better than she likes me.”
“So Juliet Grey no longer has a crush on my debonair husband?” Ariana teased, hugging him. He groaned, rolling his eyes.
Shane couldn’t help laughing. “I’ll tell Aimee.”
“That would leave you to look after Kelly.” Ariana told Derrick.
“Not like she’s going anywhere.” Derrick sat on the bed next to Kelly’s silent body. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was just sleeping.”
“Don’t be fooled. She’s in a deep trance.” Ariana supplied. She kissed his lips and was on her way, Shane following in her tread.

Once the other children were safely tucked away at Aimee’s with Juliet, Ariana led the gentlemen to her downstairs Magic-room.
“You know, we never actually been to the Abyss outright.” Derrick announced. “Is there a spell or something that’ll take us there?”
“I’m not terribly sure.” Ariana thought aloud. She turned to Shane. “Has Luna thought of one to take us directly to the Abyss?”
“Just a variation of the Dream Chant.” Shane shrugged. “What about when you patrol? Don’t you find Dreamers worlds through it?”
“Sure, but it’s part of my job to go there when I do.” Ariana said. She held both her hands out. “Form a circle.”
Derrick and Shane each grasped one of her outstretched hands, then each other’s, completing the circle. “Now what?” Derrick asked.
“You know the routine.” Ariana grinned. “Close your eyes and repeat with me.”
“The words?”
Ariana’s smile stayed, catching the eyes of her Earthly Protector and brother-like best friend. “Centaurium Abysms Tu.”
Echoes of a short-handed spell vibrated through the air as the trio were swept away in a whirlwind of Magic to the Abyss.

II

“You’re gonna regret capturing me.” Luna growled to her abductor.
Damian could do no other than laugh at her. “Dear Grand Magus. Only mortals revel in the emotion called regret.”
“I’m no ordinary mortal, and you know it.” Luna supplied. “I came here searching for Princess Tempest.”
“She does not concern me.” Damian shrugged. “Why should I care for a Grey Arean who lost her way?”
“She didn’t lose her way, Damian.” Luna remarked. “I sent her here.”
“You did that?” He looked and sounded impressed.
“By mistake.” She emphasized. “If Lord Max is told you interrupted my retrieval of the Princess, it will be more than your head on a platter.”
“I am already Exiled.” Damian supplied. “What more can that travesty of a Wizard do to me?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I’m sure he’ll think of something.” Luna responded sarcastically with a sneer.
It only made Damian smile. “Well, then.” He said. “I always knew you had promise, Grand Magus. I never knew you would actually wish to learn the Dark Magic.”
“It’s not only Dark Magic I learn, Damian.” Luna remarked. “I know more than you can ever fathom.”
Damian laughed, gliding away from her black-gilded cage. “Have you forgotten, Aluna? I was fighting in the Wars for Power against your Great-grandfather long before you were ever born! I have lived centuries longer than you. Your mere attempts at learning Magic do not faze me.”
Luna couldn’t lose heart. He may have the advantage, locking her in a cage she can’t even touch the bars of, but that didn’t mean all was lost. Somehow, she had to outsmart him, or intimidate him.
“You think to outwit me?” Damian supplied. When she opened her mouth to answer back, he grinned. “Simple Telepathy. I am certain even you know of its existence?”
“Of course.” Luna whispered. Time to try another tactic. She closed herself off, trying to think as hard as she could. If only Shane were here! “You know of the Shadow, don’t you?”
At the title, Damian cringed. “Aye, it is unfortunate I do.” He grumbled.
Good. He was weakening. Damian was scared stiff of the great Shadow. What to do with the information?
“He just so happens to be right behind you.” Luna tried her hardest to project the image of Shadow where Damian looked.
He was taken aback, surprised for only a moment. Suddenly, with a pain in her mind, the image flickered out of sight.
“Parlor tricks?” Damian pointed to the now-vacant spot. “You wish to delude me with parlor tricks? Come now, Grand Magus. You can do better than that!”
Luna grasped her Dream Pentacle, a sort of pentacle-shaped Dream Locket she’d earned training to become the Dream Realm’s Grand Magus. It signified she was capable of great power, great magic, and able to learn any kind of world magic with ease. Grasping it now, she felt its magic pulsating in her hand.