Zein: The Prophecy Page 29

  When he was ready to leave, a grieving Lord Fathom went to see him and offered him his hand, a gesture he had picked up from the humans and was increasingly using. ‘I offer you the friendship of the Fathom Clan, Cronje. Let it be said that today was the day our two clans came together as one.’ Cronje took the offered hand. He was not schooled in etiquette and had seen and taken part in many acts of cruelty, following orders. He, however, knew a fighter when he saw one and rather self-consciously decided the time was right to reciprocate the gesture by Lord Fathom.

  Cronje released the man’s hand. With a short bow, ‘Lord Fathom I am sorry about your daughter, she was a great warrior and the Malacca Clan will not forget how she stood up against Zylar,’ said Cronje and with that he walked into the portal, shimmered and was gone. He left an emotional father behind shaken by the unexpected kind words.

  The relationship between Bailey and Belina was a surprise to everyone. After the battle, Bailey had stood immobile holding the two smoking photon guns, his eyes wild and hair plastered to his forehead from perspiration. Belina had walked directly up to him, flung her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. Bailey dropped the two guns and swept her up into his arms. She was a good couple of inches taller than him, but that didn’t stop them. In the days following they were the uplifting story that brought some normality back into life.

  Kabel was taken to the main Core Medicare centre and treated in a bed next to Gemma, who had recovered sufficiently to feed him soup like an invalid. Their bond grew, although Gemma looked out often for Tyson.

  Gemma and Bailey comforted each other as they endured the long uncertainty of whether or not their parents had survived the madness in New York. They had not been on the plane they should have been. News was in short supply with the authorities trying to deal with the unimaginable.

  The soldiers Sean and Remo found they had much in common and with Hechkle and the injured Bronstorm, they were at the forefront of directing a replenished Zein and human task force to oust any few remaining Ilsid or Eastern soldiers who still fought for Zylar. The majority of the Ilsid had disappeared at the same time as Zylar; however, there were scattered squads in the different quadrants that continued to follow their misguided orders of containment and oppression.

  Lord Southgate met with the Earth’s Security Council and began the long process of assimilation of the two worlds. He and Charles even took up playing chess in the time they could relax, soon they were firm friends.

  Maggia and Palminder went home to bury Drogan and Hilah in a moving ceremony. A plaque was raised in the centre of Livescale, engraved:

  “The brave stood and died for Zein.”

  In the Underworld, America acted in the only way America could – it rallied together for the victims and survivors of the nuclear strike and became stronger as a nation. They vowed that one day they would have their day against the Zeinonian who caused such loss. The rest of the world began to adapt to a future different from any they had ever imagined.

  Evelyn was buried where she had fallen. It was a moving ceremony with the remaining one hundred and nineteen Fathom Royal Guards providing a guard of honour as the casket was taken from the Southern Quadrant Palace to her final resting place. Earth leaders and royalty attended to show their respect and thanks for the support of the Zein people. A headstone to grace any royalty, and fitting for a princess, was placed in the ground over Evelyn’s body. It was here that Amelia found Tyson a few days later.

  His head was bowed. He thought of the youthful and exuberant Fathom princess. He remembered their first meeting, the blaster in the face, the smile, the kiss and her simple way of viewing life. He still hurt.

  Amelia stood beside him and took hold of his hand. He looked down at her hand entwined in his and then into her eyes. Her heart went out to him. His face was so drawn and tired.

  ‘I promised her she would be safe. I failed her,’ he said, tears close to the surface.

  ‘You saved her, Tyson. You killed the man who hurt her and you avenged her.’ She waited until she had his full attention. ‘We spoke during the Battle for the Core and she didn’t need to say that Manek had broken her. Evelyn had nothing left except her fighting spirit. She died freeing her people and that wiped away any humiliation.’ Amelia ran her finger over Tyson’s hand tenderly. ‘You were there when she died; that meant everything to her.’

  Tyson leaned into her and kissed her tentatively at first. It was so right. The kiss was light, tender and conveyed so much more than words. When they parted Tyson wrapped her in his arms.

  After what seemed an age Tyson let go and there was silence for a moment, then Amelia said, ‘They say that your mother and Delilah had retrieval bracelets on and they are with Zylar.’

  ‘I know, I can still feel her,’ Tyson replied quietly.

  ‘What are we going to do?’ Amelia asked.

  Tyson turned to her, the tenderness leaving his face, a hard mask replacing it. ‘We are going after him, he can run but he can’t hide from me and when I find him…’ Tyson didn’t finish the sentence, he didn’t need to. He gazed into the starlit sky and made a promise to himself. Amelia snuggled back into him, not hearing the silent deadly promise. All she knew was that Zylar should be scared, very scared.

  Epilogue

  He sat in his command chair on the sleek battleship, anger washing over him in waves. His injured body screamed out to him for help. The Ilsid moved quietly in their tasks oblivious to his murderous thoughts. Morosely he watched the few Easterners and mercenaries who had joined him piloting the battleship away from Earth.

  This cursed galaxy, he thought, bringing his fist down on the console arm. He had only just over four thousand Ilsid and one hundred and fifty other crew members remaining. His dream of conquering the Universe was on hold. He only had two targets now – the Blackstone brothers.

  In the prison hold of the ship, a young girl and a woman clutched each other, confused and shaken by their abduction. They didn’t talk, just over and over again prayed for rescue by the same two brothers.

  On the command and control deck, Zylar read their thoughts, his powers increasing as he fed hatred and pain into his warped body. His smile was cruel and menacing. The Blackstones’ would follow him, and when they found him he would be waiting. One day soon he would have his revenge…

  THE END

  Copyright

  Published by Clink Street Publishing 2015

  Copyright © 2015

  Second edition.

  The author asserts the moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior consent of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that with which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely incidental.

  ISBN: 978-1-910782-29-3

  E-book: 978-1-910782-30-9