Third Seal (eBook)

Corey Sanders (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
71 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-9754-5 (ISBN)

Infos

This story follows a young man pulled back into a life he'd previously fled. As the story progresses his reasons are revealed along with a plot that will change everything and set him and his friends on paths that could very much determine the faith of all mankind.

I am a ordinary person trying to reclaim an extraordinary gift that has been long neglected. I seek to bring entire world's of fantasy to life and share with my readers the experience and thrills.

Textauszug

1

Home

(Artimus’s Gate was a large and private community deep within a reserved area in the Southern United states. It was inhabited by four powerful families, the Laws, Lee, Malin, and Barters. Each family lived in their own sections in the community, which was built in a pentagon. A large mansion/ gathering point sat at the center. The gathering point was known as the spire. A fifth section, though long abandoned, had been well maintained. Its well built houses stood strong and were well maintained. After miles of winding roads lined with thick and lush vegetation, we came upon an opening with a large gate bordered by a massive wall.)

“Oh my goodness,” Alisa proclaimed under her breath.

I took a deep breath, a heavy and uneasy feeling settling in my gut. There was so much I hadn’t told my wife about my past. Enough to make me a complete stranger to her. She may have even thought me crazy if I tried to explain the half.

A middle aged man dressed in plain clothes waited for the automatic gates to slide open then made his way to the driver side of the car. He smiled as he leaned down, waving at Alisa before addressing me.

“Jonathan Law...it’s been a long time,” he greeted.

“It has but I don’t recall you,” I replied honestly.

“I forget the toll guarding these walls can take on a man. It’s me, Walt Malin,” the man explained.

I paused, studying the man’s eye structure and recalled how he looked as an early teen. I lowered my head and nodded, gripping the steering wheel tightly with my left hand while holding Alisa’s hand with my right. Before either of us could go on, a red sports car slid to a stop behind us and the driver began to lay on its horn. Without further delay, I started into the community. Alisa squeezed my hand and grunted as we cleared the gates.

“Are you ok?” I asked.

“Yes...just a sharp pain,” she answered, assuring me with a smile.

I drove slowly, minding the families that walked about and across the streets. Some cast long stares and muttered who knows what to one another as they recognized me.

“You never struck me as a rich kid J. Then again you never really talked much about your family,” Alisa commented, studying her surroundings.

“I told you all I could and you never really pried. As you said, we both came from somewhere but it wasn’t as important as where we were and were going to be,” I responded, her voice blending with mine as we both finished the sentence.

“So you’re here to pay your respects and then we’re leaving?” Alisa inquired.

“That’s the plan but it may not be as simple or quick as I want it to be. The people here are nice but different. Just stay near me at all times. They may get jealous and try to kidnap you from me,” I answered jokingly.

We finally came upon the spire and parked alongside two other vehicles. The sports car that was behind us pulled up as well. As we got out of the car, a familiar face exited the car and removed his shades.

“Johnny Johnny...is this yours?” Dillion Lee, an old friend, asked as he admired Alisa.

Dillon was of Asian descent, a hint of his accent remained although he grew up around the other three families and their cultures. He stood at six feet even and had managed to maintain a healthy athletic build. He was always a bit of a playboy and competitive. He’d allowed his hair to grow to his shoulders, making him a spitting image of his father who was shorter and rounder from what I recalled.

“Alisa, this is Dillon. Dillon, this is my WIFE Alisa,” I replied.

“Wife?” Dillon questioned, shocked.

He shook his head and put his sunglasses back on before whistling off and up the steps to the spire. Alisa followed behind me, holding her stomach with one hand and my arm with the other as we made our way up the steps. She was seven months pregnant, perhaps the reason for her dragging her steps as we made our way up. She smiled and let out a sigh as we reached the top. We entered and were met by curious eyes.

Four people stood underneath a statue of a hand holding a book.On side of the statue were half spiral steps which led to another area. Mirinda Barter stood shrouded in Arabic garments. She must have just returned from a trip. Next to her was Dillon. On the other side of him was aunt Clera, her beautiful black hair lined with silver streaks.

Clera reminded me so much of my mother who was a few years younger than she. Last there was Carissa Malin. She wore her hair in braids and a pair of hazel eyes dropped to the floor as she noticed Alisa gripping my arm. I quickly recognized the markings on Carrisa’s arm as rites of passage from her family who were of native descent.

“Come on child, let me see her,” Clera called out, waving for us to come closer.

Before I could move, Alisa released my arm and moved past me to greet everyone oh her own.

“Is it ok if I call you aunt Clera,” Alisa asked, motioning to hug Clera.

While doing so Alisa accidentally grazed the side of Clera’s face with her earring. Clera made a slight gesture of pain then turned to introduce the others.

“Baby this is Mirinda, Dillon, and Carissa,” Clera announced.

“Nice to meet you all,” Alisa greeted, reaching to shake Carrisa’s hand.

Hesitantly, Carrisa shook Alisa’s hand and an awkward moment of silence occurred. Afterwards, Carrisa managed a smile before dropping her hand to her side.

“I don’t want to overwhelm your wife with family matters. Is it ok if I take her to the house? She’ll be fine and you all can settle things in private,” Clera stated bluntly.

“I think that will be best...whatever it is you need to do, do it,” Alisa agreed before I could respond.

I nodded in silence and watched as Clera led Alisa out the door. None of us spoke. We just stood there looking at one another. I knew my brother’s body rested in a special room up the spiral steps but before I could proceed, I’d have to break the ice with my once and perhaps still dear friends.

“So umm...he’s married and she’s pregnant. What are you guys having? Does she know what you’ve gotten her and the baby into? Have you told her anything about anything even?” Dillon erupted in an amused manner.

“Lay off him Dillon,” Mirinda replied.

“Oh no no no...he doesn’t get a pass. Years of our lives spent together. Struggling through the trials and bonding. Then he just ups and leaves after he completes his final trial. Bullshit bro...you owe us an explanation,” Dillon continued to pressure.

They began to go back and forward with one another and all I could do was remember how we were as kids. I recalled our first meeting. How our families presented us before our guardians and then to each other.

Suddenly, I slipped into a vision as if someone or something was probing my memories. It was also possible that the event had been triggered by my own emotions after returning home.

I looked down at my hands, tiny and fragile, then up at Guardian Newman. I was in a vision but an exact recreation of a memory.

“You are here because you show promise and your gift exceeds all other members of your family’s current generation. From this day on you will undergo trials and training. This will determine your roles as a team. We can show you the paths but only you can walk them,” Newman explained.

I tried to pull myself from the vision but it was as if someone had a remote control. I was drawn into a memory not so distant from the first. I stood before Dillon. We both were bruised and bloody, breathing heavily. I remembered hating him intensely.

“They think you’ll be the Vanguard but you’re weaker than me. You’ll always be weaker than me,” Dillon snarled, tears pouring down his face.

“I don’t want to be Vanguard...but I won’t back down from you,” I replied.

Shifting between physical and spiritual plains, I charged at Dillon simultaneously. I struck him at the same time in both plains, a right to the face and he flew back. The force was more than I’d intended and my anger commanded me to continue my attack even as he stood and slumped back over in defeat. As I moved in, Newman and another guardian restrained me. One physically and the other slipped into a spiritual state to stop me. I recalled the look of terror on Dillons face as both guardians struggled to contain me. We were 12 at the time of the incident.

Once again I was drawn into another memory. The gathering before the elders after Dillion and I fought.

“He could’ve killed my son! I knew he was like his father before we agreed to this. Replace him with Gerald. That much power while so young...send him to the church. If they learn we have an unregistered Phaser it will damage our truce with them,” Michael, Dillons father argued with a group of elders.

“We can not make such a decision without his parents being present and the suggestion itself is harsh,” one elder replied.

“The Lee family have produced Vanguards for generations. It shouldn’t tarnish your pride so much if that were to change,” Clera spoke, emerging from a small crowd.

“That,” Micheal began.

“That’s exactly what this is about,” Clera interrupted in a stern manner.

Everyone grew quiet and whispered among themselves. Clera had spoken the truth. I stood in silence looking around, a deep sorrow settling in my heart. I would be seperated from my friends and my parents had yet to return from their...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 20.3.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Kinder- / Jugendbuch
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-9754-5 / 9798350997545