THE HAUNTED KINGDOM 3 by CHARLES E.J. MOULTON (ereader that reads to you .txt) 📕

his life and he was left smiling at all this. He felt so at one with the whole of this sky. He had been stuck in a ravine a moment ago. Now he was a free man, inspired by the holy ghost.
“God, I love you!”
”I love you, too” the horse cried.
He felt the air on his face and the clouds were whizzing by at miraculous speed.
There was something amazing about this.
Something that felt like he was joining the heavenly angels. He was becoming at one with God in a way that he never had experienced. Oh, yes, of course, he always had fought for God. He always had. He had always been a believer.
Always.
Maybe he at time drifted off on to another area.
But in reality, he was always a true believer, so at one now with everything holy.
He knew everything would be good.
The most important part was awaiting him, but he could face that happily.
Laughing and singing the king and his stallion landed on the ground and galloped on. He felt the horse gallop around in circles and actually laughing, racing down towards the valleys and up to the hills. He felt himself feeling strong and masculine and muscular and adamant and, half-smiling, his soul was defying every time Lucinda had threatened him. Riding into the sun, faster and faster, he felt the eagle following him.
He felt like he had defied the powers of darkness with the power of God and he felt strong about being such strong person that could do so.
He felt the two of them slow down, pant and laugh out of pure relief, raising their arms to the sky and thanking the Lord.
He felt superstition to be a thing of the past.
He was his own man, about to fight the powers of hell with realistic means.
At that moment, still mounted on the stallion, he saw the eagle soar down and land, bouncing as well in landing, just feet away from them.
In that eagle he saw the evangelist John in the shape of Fabian.
The eagle transformed and then stood up. It was St. Michael and he was laughing and singing.
Alex stepped off his horse and started dancing with St. Michael, dancing with this wondrous angel.
St. Michael, the angelic guardian of free protection, the last and original evangelist, spoke:
“I don’t have to teach you anything. The only thing that a human does not have to be reminded of is freedom. He wants freedom. When he can get it, he does, no matter what.”
Alex and Mercutio and Michael danced on those pastures and Old Father watched from the clear blue sky and had to smile as well, nodding to himself and telling the other angels:
”I told you he was ready.”
Raphael and Gabriel had to agree.
Alexander jumped up on the horse again and now Michael was not the eagle of St. John any more. He was himself, soaring through the sky in front of the King of a future Medatlantia, singing and laughing and joking like a young man should. Loving life, thanking the Holy Ghost for Alexander. Thanking the Lord for leading his child to a certain victory.
The three rode into the sun and sang a song of salvation.

§

Michael and Alexander had rode, no flew, around the sky for an entire day, literally visiting Nocturania and even bits of the desolate Prosperania from the air that day.
Mercutio had kept on talking and talking and his newly found ability to speak had made him into a very literate genius.
Alexander Winsletenna felt like six again.
He felt like not year had passed between the day he dropped the coin into the well and today.
And yet, he knew that he traveller a long way to get to where he was.
He asked Michael why he hadn’t been able to fly from Iuventus Sacrum to Darker Callenia and save the trip. Michael laughed and told him that it was the trip that made him able to fly. Without the trip over here there would be no way that he could fly. The trip, the pain, the training, all of it had made him into the strong fighter he was today. His reward was flying at breakneck speed and seeing the road that he had travelled. The villages and the forest patch with the cave. The river and the lake. The avenue and the oasis. The long one way road and the wasteland. The first shades of green leading to the hillside. The farms and the soldier camps. The main capital and the tree village. He realized that he had jumped several miles when walking out of the forest village gym. Down to the Wilta territory in fact, where he had, by his own force and subconscious will, come to a place near a village that lay somewhat closer to the infamous dark territories.
He saw it all and how it connected. How his road connected and how thankful he was that he got to see where he had gone.
They were now again by the last lake that existed before the dark territories. It was night and Michael and Alex were sitting by the campfire just talking quietly about life, looking into the flames.
Mercutio had not spoken since nightfall.
There had been a long silence now. Alex had felt fabulous up until now. He was strong, yes. Ready, yes. A patient, strong lion with heart. But he was afraid. Very afraid.
Michael knew what he was thinking of.
“No one can take away your fear, my friend” he said.
Alex looked up at Michael and nodded.
“I know that.” He shook his head and looked out. “I know. But I am entering a new world with new rules. I am scared. I want to win. I want to regain my family.”
Michael sighed. “You couldn’t be more ready, Alex.”
“It is all thanks to you.”
”You did the hard work of manifesting it.”
Alex shook his head. “I could never have made it without you.” He saw Michael’s face and how he was looking into the flames of the campfire, obviously missing heaven. “Michael?”
He looked up. “Hmmm?”
“Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” Michael blinked at Alex, lovingly. “My pleasure.”
They looked back into the flames.
“Mercutio hasn’t spoken all evening, has he?” Alex laughed.
Michael glanced at Mercutio and smiled.
“No. I think his voice must be tired.”
Alex could not let the future go.
“I am afraid of tomorrow, Michael.”
“Accept your fear. Use it. It is important to be afraid sometimes. But I will be there in spirit.”
“I don’t want to face the unknown.”
“But you must face the unknown. That is the price for immortality. Facing the unknown.”
”Immortality?” Alex asked.
“If you survive and win this, your reward will be heavenly immortality.” Michael saw Alexander’s face and corrected himself. “No, not physical immortality. It means you go to a new level.” Michael looked out onto the lake, the sea grass slightly blowing in the wind. “You will not have to go through endless reincarnations, you will be able to work on the next level.” The moon was not quite as full as yesterday. Michael picked up a piece of bread that lay beside him. He waved it at Alex and Alex nodded. Michael split it in two, threw the one half to Alex, who caught it and began munching on his half. “Your country will experience a renaissance of unspeakable measure. It is all due to the son that your grandson will have and who at the end of this century will send a young man from Genoa across the seas to found what will be called Columbia or Christophoria. A kind of Eden. In your alternate reality, it will be called America. But let’s leave all that alone. The main thing is, everything is at stake here. So you must be calm. Don’t give in to your fear. If you loose now, nothing will be the way it should be.”
“Michael.”
”Yes, Alex.”
“I love you.”
”I love you, too, Alexander.”
There was a long pause. Michael was waiting for the right moment to say this. It arrived when Alex looked over at Mercutio and how the stallion was eating grass and half-sleeping. There were transparent angels there by the horse and the nodded to Michael to speak.
“Alexander?”
”Yes?”
”I have something to tell you.”
Michael spoke very softly and tenderly, resting on his elbow.
He sat up.
“That is partially why I am here.”
Alexander sat up, as well, interested.
“You know that you are the reincarnation of a man in the very village on Earth, don’t you?”
”Yes, so I was told.”
”His name was Joseph and his wife was Rebecca …”
”… who in turn turned out to be Lucinda.”
“Well, there is more and I think this is time to be ready for it.”
Alexander’s felt how his hand began shaking again. He calmed down by remembering patience. He opened the inner smile by caressing his strength.
“Adnicul was the first angel Lucifer ever created. He was fooled into training Lucinda to become what she is today. Then he was completely dumped into the dungeon of Zeekha’s old castle Misar Rularia, the one you transported yourself to by thought and literally dumped into this illusion. We kept him alive for years.”
”Why keep Adnicul alive, Michael?”
”Because Adnicul is of heavenly origin, Alexander. He needs to save his soul. The only way he can do that is to do two things. One: by letting go of his vanity. He has already done that. It took a long time. We kept him locked up in the Convent of Mary Magdalene in the Wiltas for ages until he really succumbed to our will.”
”And secondly?”
“He has to be at your side in saving your family.”
Alexander eyes opened wide. He had travelled all this way to save his family only to team up with the enemy?
”No way, Michael.” He stood up and started pacing the ground in front of the fire. Michael remained seated. “You think I will fight side by side with someone that is the reason why my family is in trouble in the first place.”
”Adnicul was always the fifth wheel, Alex. Lucifer, Lucinda were two of the wheels. But Adnicul never had anything to do with the curse or the plagues. He was merely a trainer and he had been living a lie.”
”Why do we have to save him?”
“Because Adnicul was put here again on Earth unwilling to be what he became only in order to tutor Lucinda. That was all. He is not what he became. He needs to return to the Hwee-Ail-Sihl tree.”
“What tree?”
“It is the heavenly name for the Tree of Forbidden Fruit. There is a tree in heaven like that. Just a sample to show the angels what it is. It was the original problem. It was Lucifer who took a seed from that tree and literally made hell out of it. Adnicul was the first seed from that tree. That mutation was always confused. The difficult part is now that he remembers all of that and thinks you will not let him collaborate. He might be destroyed in there.” Alexander looked toward the forest. “But it is worth a try. He should have a chance to save his soul if he wants to. And he does.”
”I am sure you are right. But it is a big change.”
”Spell Adnicul backwards.”
Alexander concentrated, Then, he calmly said, looking up.
“Lucinda.”
Michael half-smiled, thoughtfully.
”You have