Isle of Sanctum | The Aya Thrasher Chronicles | Book 1 |[Editing]

Chapter Seventy-Three

CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE

RAYNE

I had a difficult time walking or doing anything. I was exhausted. I felt like I would fall asleep at anymore moment. Weakness invaded my body. As soon as I sat up on the stretcher, I was greeted by Lake, Sydney, and Aya. They seemed shocked that I was alive. But to be honest, I really hadn't remembered much of what had happened.

"Let's get out of here guys," I heard Serina say, but I was too busy looking around.

Commander Gotsam was lying face down on the floor. I wasn't sure if he was dead or just out cold. As much as I wanted to smash his face in, I knew it was best to leave him alone.

"Where do you think you're going?" I heard Pryn say before I could leave the room.

"You're going to pay," I said concentrating on her. I kneeled down slightly, even though it was difficult for me. Nothing was happening. "Don't you take one step closer!" I shouted. I tried concentrating harder, but again nothing. I could feel the electricity burning through my forearms without any results. "What have you done to me? To my powers?" I asked.

"Oh silly, Rayne. Your powers are gone. Poof!" She said excitedly. "We needed all the energy we could get to bring Valencia Woods back."

"Come on Rayne," Serina said pulling my arm. "She's not worth it."

All the others were already out of the room, but I was still angry. Even with my lack of energy, I felt like I needed to get reprisal, powers or not. Though I was lucky to be alive, I had learned to tame my powers. They had become a part of me. Without them, I felt empty, like a part of me was missing.

"What is it?" Lake asked as we started to walk toward the exit of the Tower. "You seem off."

I sighed. "I am off," I replied. "My powers are gone. They were the only thing I had going for me."

"That's not true at all. You have so much more going on than your powers. You're strong, brave, and loyal," Lake said with a smile. "I'm sorry about lying to you. Seeing you lying there on that stretcher made me want to scream. I shouldn't have done that to you. It's my fault your powers are gone."

I shook my head. "It's not your fault. The Wyres would have found a way even without you," I said.

Everything was spinning. I was that exhausted. I could feel my body collapsing toward Lake, but she caught me. I grabbed her hand to stabilize myself and then the strangest thing happened.

I was somewhere where the sky was red. It reminded me of being back on Earth. I twirled around and examined all the beautifully historic structures. There was no way it was the current year. 

"Come inside, child," a man with a round face and long beard said.

Even though I didn't know who this man was, I felt safe enough to trust him. I followed him up the concrete steps and into a conservatively sized mansion. The inside was decorated similarly to Serina's mansion. There was a lot of old art work that adorned the walls. 

"Please, take a seat," he said pointing to the satin couch.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"The capital city of Sciusia," he replied.

"What year is it?" I asked.

"2025," he said. "Why?"

How in the world was I in 2033?  I stumbled backward and took a seat on the soft couch. I was still trying to digest that I had travelled back in time fifty years.

"How did I get here?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," he replied scratching the back of his head. "Wait...." he took a few steps so that his back was turned to me. "Unless you are--" He began and spit out a slight laugh. "No, you can't be, that would be crazy."

"Sir, who do you think I am?"

"What year did you say you're from?" He asked.

"2075," I replied. 

He clenched in fists in excitement. I had no idea who this man was, but he seemed like he knew who I was, or maybe he was just crazy.

"You're one of the precious gems....the lesser gods," he smiled wide. "I knew you existed!"

"What? And who are you?" I asked.

"Silas...Silas Avendur."

"The one who wrote the Lexicon?"

He nodded. "You know of it? I haven't published it yet."

I nodded. 

"Gotsam, can you prepare some tea for our guest," he shouted and then sat down next to me.

"Right now our Sciusian government is ruled by a council and the strackers," he began. "The strackers are made up of our past fallen citizens as well as living members. They have been around since the beginning of time and they are the ones who built this planet," he explained. "They are known as the greater gods."

 A man, who I assumed to be Gotsam set down a pot of tea and two cups in front of us. Then it hit me, that he must have been an ancestor to General Gotsam. I wanted to hear more about what Silas had to say, so I didn't make a scene. 

After war destroys a lot of our solar system, the Strackers made a prophecy that a group of children with powers, and of human and Sciusian blood, would save the solar system from nefarious invaders," he went on. "You must have been part of that group, the lesser gods."

"Really?" I asked.

Silas started to become fuzzy and everything faded out. I was outside of the tower and my hand was still connected to Lake's. 

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Lake said.

"I just did," I replied.

END OF PART XI.